Fireflies
by Pikaskye
Summary: She no longer has the protection of her Dragon, even though he's right there beside her. What will she do to restore everything to what it once was? A sequel to Four Magics.
1. Prologue

**Hello, I'm Pikaskye and I have finally brought you the sequel to Four Magics! so, who's happy about summer vacation! whoo! So this means I'll be able to write/type more, so expect frequent posts for this story. I can't wait for all my ideas to flourish! *evil cackle* **

**NOTE; it is NOT necessary to read Four Magics before reading this, but it IS recommended. Just look on my account.**

**ANOTHER NOTE; Nakama means team mate. I use it because I like the sound of the word.**

**Cheers! hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER; I do not own Fairy Tail or Britt Nicole's Hanging on.**

* * *

"Ahh haa!" Natsu Dragneel kicked yet another bad guy in the butt, sending the poor, weasly man flying. Hands aflame, he punched and kicked three more bulky blokes until he momentarily stopped, looking around at his surroundings. he had punched all the enemies out, and all of the encircling trees in the plain he was fighting in were scorched. Whoops. Natsu turned to his nakama***** behind him and grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Guess I went a little too far again?" he smiled his signature grin, almost taking up half with face with teeth and sharp canines. Erza, a red-headed female warrior and Natsus partner, fwapped the back of his head with her hand, no longer fighting.

"You're an idiot."

"Natsu! Again!" another figure burst into the clearing, a blonde-haired girl with a ring of keys on her belt. her name was Lucy. She looked quite flustered when she saw the burnt greenery, looking around. "You're lucky this is a forest and not a five-star hotel!" she shouted, but the girl brushed it off though, accustomed to his destructive behaviour and not being able to stay mad at him for long. Lucy'd long ago stopped trying.

Natsu grinned further when he saw his girlfriend perfectly fine. He was worried for her, even though he was barely a clearing away and would have heard if she were hurt and he knew she could handle herself. He was always worried for Lucy when she was away. Especially because she was just out of the casts she had to wear for a month. With Wendy's Healing magic, she managed to heal quickly, but it was her first mission in a while.

Lucy went up to the three, smiling. "Man, those guys were easy." She said, looking around at the collapsed people around them. They were all burnt, cut up, or frozen. Speaking of frozen, where was Gray?

"I agree. They were too easy. I'm just tying these guys up so we can take them to the soldiers." Gray, the ice mage with a stripping habit, was in his boxers holding out his hands. He had gathered up the beaten enemies and wrapped them in a block of solid ice. Dusting his hands off, he smirked at his nakama.

"Gray, you froze your shirt and pants with the bandits." Erza said, pointing the fact out. Gray turned red and he spun around. The remainder of his clothes were frozen in the ice block.

Gray melted enough so he could get his clothes, but now they were wet. "Hey Candlestick! Dry these for me!" Natsu turned to him.

"Why should I dry them for you, Ice Princess?"

"Cuz' you're a fire mage! You can do things like that!"

Natsu rolled his eyes, and then thrust his hand out to Gray. "Fine, whatever. Give me the damned clothes." Gray frowned at his sudden approval but warily gave his clothes to the Fire Dragon Slayer. In Natsus hands now, they caught flame, and then reappeared as a pile of ashes. The ice mage blinked rapidly.

Natsu grinned. "I dried your clothes." Gray roared and started chasing after the pink-haired boy. The girls let them blow off steam. Eventually, in the background, Erza and Lucy sighed.

"I'll take Natsu and you take Gray?" Lucy asked the Knight. The scarlet nodded. As the boys were running past them, they extended their legs, making the men trip and fall, doing a faceplant. Erza walked over to Grays body.

Lucy looked at Natsu on the ground and chuckled. He was so stupid sometimes. Crouching down, she tapped him on the nose. The Dragon Slayer stared at her from the ground, making him look funny as he was going slightly cross-eyed. "Now that was mean~" Lucy blew up her cheeks and pouted, trying to conceal her smile.

"But it was funny!" Natsu said, getting up into a criss-cross position. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Bleh. Dirt doesn't taste good." Lucy chuckled.

"No duh it doesn't taste good!"

You see my anxious heart  
You see what I am feeling  
And when I fall apart  
You are there to hold me  
How great your love for me  
Now I see what You're thinking  
You say I'm beautiful  
Your voice is my healing

Natsu kissed Lucy on the cheek, so she squealed loudly and stumbled away from him. Chuckling, he followed, leaping on her and hugging her tight like a teddy bear. She struggled half-heartedly, attempting to get out of his grip, but he wouldn't let go as he kissed her cheek repetitively. The blonde giggled, trying not to snort.

Natsu got off her, but grinned evilly. Lucy's face went slack. "Oh no you wouldn't." Her eyes went wide.

The Dragon Slayer merely smiled coyly, and then his hands reached down, tickling her. Lucy burst into laughter. "N-NaTSU! Stopstopstop—" she couldn't continue though because his tickling got worse and her voice erupted into giggling screams. Tears flowed down her face and she tried to cover her stomach.

Without You I just can't get by  
So I'm  
Hanging on to every word You speak  
'cause it's all that I need  
Hanging on to every word You say  
To light up my way  
Even every little whisper I'm  
Hanging on as if it were my life  
I'm hanging on

"Could you two save it for a room?" Natsu glared at Gray, who was the one who spoke. Lucy lay on the ground wiping tears from her eyes, glad that the tickling stopped and trying to get air in her lungs. Gray had an amusing bump on his head, most likely from Erza scolding him, Erza-style.

"T-Thank y-you... Gray." Lucy lifted her head but made no move to get up. She needed to get air into her lungs first. Finally she accepted Natsu's outstretched hand and stood up on her feet, wobbling a little.

"Damn you." She told Natsu under her breath, knowing that he'd hear her. "I couldn't breathe."

Natsu chuckled and hugged her. She liked his hugs, because Natsu was warm. Being a Fire Dragon Slayer meant he could adjust his already cozy temperature and make himself warmer. It was like snuggling next to a hot fire stove. She didn't know that the Dragon Slayer really knew this and purposely raised his warmth whenever he hugged her. Natsu liked hugging Lucy, because she felt more protected in his arms.

The group of four started walking back towards the town, Erza carrying the ice block of enemies using her wagon as the mages went back to the town to get their pay.

And when the darkness falls  
I can't see what's before me  
Your voice is like the dawn  
Always there to guide me

They got on the train, bags filled with Jewels from the completed mission. Luckily, they didn't destroy the whole forest this time, so they got it in full. Natsu was reluctant to get on the transportation, but with a final push from his girlfriend [promising she'd get him fire-food after,] he got on.

As soon as the train started moving, Natsu collapsed on Lucy's lap, suffering from motion sickness. The mighty Salamander was defeated by any moving vehicle. Lucy ran her hands through his hair, trying to comfort him.

Eventually, everyone fell asleep.

_"Natsu! Erza! Happy? Gray?" everything was dark. Lucy could feel cold floor underneath her feet, and she could see her own body clearly, but everything was black. She spun around, trying to find her friends, or anybody for that matter, in the dark. _

_ A feminine voice behind her chuckled. "My dear, they're gone now. Off to the abyss. It was your fault. You weren't strong enough to protect them from that blast." _

_ Lucy spun around, only to find nothing in the blackness. She froze when she heard the voice. "When Damien attacked, you simply weren't strong enough to block the attack on your friends. You merely created a flimsy shield. It only stopped them from being incinerated." _

It's not true, that's not true! I blocked Damien's attack and stopped Natsu from being hurt!

_ As if the woman could read her thoughts, she spoke up. "No, you watched your friends die in front of your eyes. Only you could have saved them, but you weren't powerful enough. Erza, Gray, Kura, Aiko, Happy Natsu—" the voice changed masculine, and she froze because she recognized the voice. It was Damien, the villain who Natsu defeated a month ago, tossed over the edge of a tower. "—they all died by my hand." _

_ She collapsed on the ground, holding her head, not knowing what to think. Overcome with panic, she squeezed her eyes shut. _No, no, no, no, no!

_ Shadowy hands reached out for her, wanting to grab Lucy and pull her into the darkness. The blonde couldn't do anything, hands over her ears and eyes squeezed shut. They approached closer, closer, and then a crackling fire, appearing in the air, spread light around the girl. Lucy looked up, noticing the light and warmth, suddenly hopeful now that she had Her Dragon to protect her. _

_ "Natsu..!" she nearly cried for the flames, but as soon as the flames appeared, they extinguished, letting the hands inch closer. Her brown orbs turned frightful. _

Lucy screamed, and then woke up on the train, in a cold sweat but perfectly fine. Her fingernails had dug into the armrest and her breathing was hard. She nearly gagged, then noticing that Natsu, wide awake, was still on her lap. He looked slightly green though.

"H-Hey Luce... 'you o...kay?" the sick man asked, getting off of her.

"Ya. I-I'm fine." Lucy let out a gust of air she didn't know she had been holding. Natsu gave her a concerned expression.

"You don't sound like it. Bad dream?" he asked, fighting off his motion sickness for the sake of his girlfriend.

She nodded, hesitant to tell him. "I-In my dream, all of you died from... Damien's attack, and I was the only one who could stop it, but I w-wasn't strong enough." Natsu frowned and leaned Lucy's head on his chest, flaring up his temperature so that she could be warm on the cold train.

"I know you're not weak and I can prove it. You did block that attack and we're all perfectly fine, right?" he reassured her, hugging her closer to prove his point. Lucy was afraid, but she did feel better in Natsus arms. and she believed him. Everything would be okay. Natsu was Lucy's anchor, and neither would ever let go.

Her breathing slowed, and eventually she fell asleep. Natsu chuckled sickly, but refused to release the girl in his arms.

Lucy didn't have any more nightmares after that.

Without you I just can't get by  
So I'm  
Hanging on to every word You speak  
'cause it's all that I need  
Hanging on to every word You say  
To light up my way  
Even every little whisper I'm  
Hanging on as if it were my life  
I'm hanging on

They returned to the guild after, deciding to hang out a bit before heading their separate ways. Of course, Natsu got into a fight with Gray and Gajeel, while Levy and Juvia joined Lucy and Erza to chat.

"So~" Levy wriggled her eyebrows. "How was the mission with your boyyyfriend?" it had been almost exactly a month since Natsu and Lucy had been dating, and the guild members still teased them about it. Natsu Dragneel, the immature cheeky boy that needed an explanation for what a date even was? [He mistaked it for the fruit the first time.] Natsu was dating a cute girl like Lucy? Everyone had a celebration just for the Dragon Slayer jumping that hurdle. NATSU HAD A GIRLFRIEND!

Either way, the guild never ceased teasing them for it. "The mission was fine Levy. The bandit's were easy."

"Well, we all know that Levy-san is asking about you and Natsu-san. Juvia's fine with NaLu, because it does not interfere with Gray-sama's and I's relationship!" Juvia chattered. NaLu was what the guild started calling the new couple. There was also Cappy [Charle and Happy,] and Rura, [Kura and Ren].

"Yes, I am glad you finally admitted your feelings for one another. If it wasn't for you getting hurt, I would have thanked Damien." Lucy stared at Erza, confused.

"So if I didn't get hurt, you would have thanked Damien, who kidnapped Kura trying to take over the world?"

Erza laughed. "No, I just meant it as a figure of speech. I would never thank that man. He did horrible things. The only thing that came out of the whole thing positive was you coming out as a couple." The four continued talking.

You know me better than I know myself  
Better than anybody else  
Your love is sounding like a ringing bell  
Oh, oh, I won't let go

On the other side of the guild, Natsu had stopped fighting with Gray and Gajeel and was sitting at the bar, arms supporting his head and eyebrows pressed together. Mira-Jane, the pretty silver-haired barwoman, noticed his unusually thoughtful position and walked up to him, drying a glass.

"What's on your mind Natsu?" the named Dragon Slayer looked up, huffing and then changing position so he could see Mira better.

"Well, it's Lucy's and I's one month anniversary in a day, and I want to take her out on a date. But the thing is, I've never dated a girl and haven't put any thought into hosting one." He fisted his pink spiky hair and pouted. "I don't know what to do!"

Mira got a gleam in her eyes, her Strauss-Pairing abilities kicking in. putting the glass she was cleaning in it's proper place and taking Natsus arm, she steered him into the back room. "Well, we'll fix that." She smiled kindly, but if you looked close enough, you could just see the beginnings of a smirk starting, signs that hell was about to break loose.

Hanging on to every word You speak  
'cause it's all that I need  
Hanging on to every word You say  
To light up my way  
Even every little whisper I'm  
Hanging on as if it were my life  
I'm hanging on

What neither couple noticed though, was a mysterious short figure wearing a dark cloak lounging around the entrance of the guild.

* * *

**YAY! So the first chapter's done! I hope you like it so far! The song is Hanging on by Britt Nicole. Very cute song and great voice. I decided to end with a cliffhanger... because i'm evil! MWAHAHAHAHA! *lightning booms* **

**"SHUT UP LAXUS!"**

**I'd like to thank LifeIsWaiting, ajmonkeygirl99, Squishymeansyay, Philoworm, 4fireking, and Luna Rose for reviewing Four Magics! I love that you all spent your time reviewing and loved reading them all!**

**Please review! [yes, I know my ending notes are weird.] XD**


	2. Chapter 1

**Yay! here is the next chapter! We finally get some action [and some fluff ;D] Yay for fluff! Fluff is Fluffy! Please review!**

**DISCLAIMER; I do not own Fairy Tail or Owl City's Fireflies [I wish I did, but I don't. I couldn't ever pass for Japanese and I can't sing for my life.] **

* * *

"Natsu~!" Lucy whined. "Where are you taking me?" Lucy had a blindfold on, and all she could see was black. Her boyfriend had been leading her around what she thought was a forest; it had been at least ten minutes that they had been walking, and she was almost sure that they'd gone in a giant circle by now. The sounds of crickets chirping and owls hooting were spiking her curiosity, driving her to almost take off the blindfold.

Natsu invisibly swatted her hands away before she could take it off. "Ah ah ah. You can't take it off until we're there. It's a surprise." Lucy pouted, her bottom lip jutting out, but continued walking blindly.

"You know I hate surprises." _She hated _waiting_ for them_, but Natsu continued guiding Lucy in this mysterious forest. Lucy was thinking that she'd be ready to explode soon if he didn't take off the blindfold! Suddenly, she tipped forwards, crying out when she stumbled over a root or something. She closed her eyes in the blindfold, waiting for hard impact to come, but someone caught her.

Natsu steadied her and Lucy glared at him as best as she could. Unfortunately for her, she was looking a few degrees too far to the left, so Natsu had to duck a little to get where she was looking at. "oh." he said softly, smirking. "It's a little bit further, but I promise you'll like it." The Dragon Slayer continued to walk, dragging Lucy along with him. Lucy huffed but wisely kept walking.

"Almost~" He said in a sing-song voice. The branches and bushes that they had been walking through turned into long, soft grass. Natsu lead her a little further, and then put his hands on her shoulder to indicate 'stop'. Lucy did, looking around, even though she still had the blindfold on.

"Are we there yet?" the blonde asked. Natsu chuckled.

"Almost. You just have to climb up and then I'll take the blindfold off." Lucy looked at the direction of his voice.

"Climb! How high and what is it?" she frowned, her eyebrows scrunching together.

"It's a tree. And don't worry; I'll catch you if you fall." Natsu reassured her. Lucy gave him an uncertain look, but she trusted him. Guiding her hands towards the tree and making a stool with his hands, Natsu lifted her up onto the tree. Lucy sat down on a thick branch, and Natsu followed up after her, scrambling up the tree like he was an ape.

Natsu lit his index finger with flames and gently took off the blindfold. Lucy blinked and looked around. "It's a fiel—" she looked up. "Oh Mavis!" They were sitting on a short tree in a big field, long, golden grass beneath them. Everything was peaceful and quiet, save for the chirping crickets. But that wasn't the amazing part. When Lucy looked up, she saw the most beautiful starry night sky she had ever seen. There was no moon, but Lucy felt as if she could see entire galaxies from here.

"My god..." the girl was amazed, looking over at her companion speechless.

"I found this place a week ago and I wanted to share it with you."

"I-It's... T-This is... holy crap Natsu..!" he chuckled at her inability to form a complete sentence.

"It's not even the best part." Natsu unlit his finger, making everything go dark. Lucy waited patiently, but when nothing happened, she frowned and turned to the Dragon Slayer.

"Um, Natsu? I thin—" she was cut off though by the named boy who put a finger over his mouth and shushed her. She stammered up.

"Give it a second..." he taunted quietly. He seemed intent on silence. Suddenly dozens, no hundreds, of little yellow lights floated from the ground, illuminating the plain. Lucy's eyes widened, their tiny lights reflecting in the chocolate orbs.

"FireFlies!"

You would not believe your eyes  
If ten million fireflies  
Lit up the world as I fell asleep  
'Cause they'd fill the open air  
And leave teardrops everywhere  
You'd think me rude  
But I would just stand and stare

The amazed girl looked around her wondrously. The dancing little lights floated around, making the field dazzle with yellowy brightness, painting their faces with the colour. Natsu looked over at her, chuckling at her expression. If he'd known it would have been that sweet he would have brought a camera.

But she was beautiful. The little lights pronounced her figure, her bright chocolate eyes, her soft golden hair... everything that he liked about her. She wasn't just a cute face either; he knew her for fighting with her spirits and being sweet and kind. The first time they met she paid for their food.

Lucy looked at Natsu in the eyes, brown meeting black. "Thank you." She said, kissing him on the lips. He kissed her back. Scooting over so she could snuggle with him, she sighed happily, looking at the fireflies around them.

I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
'Cause everything is never as it seems

Natsu, still not out of tricks, let his index finger out, shooting sparks into the air. The orange-y flickering ashes spun and tumbled through the plain, dancing with the fireflies and making Lucy giggle. God, she loved him.

The pink-haired boy smiled when he saw her expression, smirking softly when she caught one of the tiny sparks in her hands, and then blew it away to meet its friends. The fireflies and sparks were beginning to melt together, a sea of orange and yellow, bathing the field in shimmery light. God, he loved her.

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs  
From ten thousand lightning bugs  
As they tried to teach me how to dance  
A foxtrot above my head  
A sock hop beneath my bed  
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

"So," Natsu asked, amused. "Do you like it?" Lucy looked up at him, grinning.

"I love it! Thank you Natsu!" she pecked him on the cheek again, and a warmth spread through his body. He felt warm and tingly inside. Sending his signature grin back at her, he squeezed her closer to her chest, shaking her like a dearly-loved teddy bear. "Na-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-TSU!" she said, laughing. "I have something to give you too. It _is_ our monthly anniversary."

Natsu let Lucy go reluctantly and she reached into her satchel. She rustled around for a bit, paused frowning, and then continued looking for whatever it was she was looking for. She 'aha-ed' and pulled something out of her purse. It was a black box.

She looked away shyly. "It isn't much and now I feel guilty, but... erm... here you go!" Lucy's cheeks turned red as she shoved the box towards him and Natsu took it. The Dragon Slayer grinned when he removed the lid.

It was something that looked like a red lighter, and a black armband with a little star and Dragon design on it. Natsu lifted up the armband. The little red dragon was wrapped around the yellow star, tail curling around it protectively on a black leather background. Almost immediately, Natsu took off the armband he was wearing on his one-armed vest and slipped the other one on.

"I had some help from Kura since I didn't know what Igneel looked like... do you like it?" Lucy mumbled nervously.

"Luc-y! You know I'll always like what you give me. And besides, I am wearing it, aren't I?" he grinned, and she seemed reassured. "And besides, Mira helped me with this, so no problems!" Natsu patted Lucy on the back hard; forgetting that they were both precariously perched on a tree branch. Lucy slipped, crying out and grabbing the first thing that came to her hands, which happened to be Natsu's vest. He tumbled after her, the fireflies moving away from the two at the sudden movement.

Lucy yelped when Natsu landed on her back, but it didn't really hurt because they were only two or three feet off the ground. Luckily, there was also a soft bed of grass to cushion them. Natsu laughed. "This isn't funny!" Lucy squealed, trying to struggle out of under his weight. Natsu got off and lent her a hand.

Natsu was still laughing though, so Lucy punched him, knowing that either way he would barely feel it. He faked innocence. "ow." He pouted, rubbing his 'hurt' arm. Lucy scowled at him, but gave up trying to be annoyed. He was too cute like that.

I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
'Cause everything is never as it seems  
When I fall asleep

"So, what does this thing do?" Natsu asked, holding the lighter-like device which he'd miraculously caught.

"It's an instant lighter. It almost never runs out of fir—" Lucy stopped and laughed, because Natsu had already flicked the switch and was eating the bonfire on top.

"TIS IZ GOOB!" Natsu exclaimed, taking humongous chomps out of the flames. Lucy facepalmed, still giggling. Lucy remembered how Kura, the Energy Dragon Slayer that they had met a little further than a month ago, said that fire tasted absolutely horrible. And of course, that lighter nearly never ran out for _normal people_. Knowing Natsu, the fire would be gone in a week.

They got their things lying on the ground and started walking home. "Are you sleeping at my house tonight again?" Lucy looked up at Natsu and asked.

He thought for a moment. "Hmm... I would like to cuddle up with you and your comfy bed... sure!" Lucy still didn't get the obsession he had over her bed, but she'd never bothered asking him. She inwardly shrugged.

They continued walking and reached Lucy's house, a moderately sized apartment, and stepped inside. Lucy threw herself onto her bed so she flew into a mountain of fluffy blankets. Smiling when she felt Natsu collapse behind her, sniffing the sheets. It was weird, but Natsu said that her sheets smelled nice to his Dragon Slayer nose.

_ Dragon Slayers are weird. _

The couple got up at the same time, and Lucy went to go get a pair of PJs, walking into the bathroom to get changed. Soon after, she stepped out, in her favourite penguin night clothes. Natsu hadn't bothered much, just taking off his vest, folding away his precious scarf and had already stolen the bed, eyes closed. One eye popped open when he noticed her arrival though.

"I'd like to wake up like this every morning." He yawned. Lucy chuckled.

"It's not the morning Natsu! I just went into the bathroom to change." Lucy went into the bed next to him. Natsu kissed her forehead.

"Just kidding. Good night, Luce."

"Goodnight. I love you Natsu." Lucy snuggled closer to him, and there was the warmth again. Both smiled faintly, out of sight from the other one, and eventually Lucy's breathing slowed, chest rising and falling in harmony.

Natsu, on the other hand, couldn't sleep. He remained in the same position, but once he was sure Lucy was fast asleep, he lifted himself up, careful not to disturb the blonde, and peered out the window. Checking every shadow and alleyway twice, his onyx eyes skimmed the canal beside her house. His eyes narrowed when he saw it. Barely noticeable to the most skilled eyes, but Natsu just managed to catch the movement in one of the nearly alleyways.

The Dragon Slayer didn't want to worry Lucy, so he didn't tell her when he caught scent of the people before.

Leave my door open just a crack  
(Please take me away from here)  
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac  
(Please take me away from here)  
Why do I tire of counting sheep  
(Please take me away from here)  
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

Natsu put on his vest and scarf quietly and went downstairs, opening the door to fresh night air. Looking behind him at Lucy's window concernedly, he walked forwards into the alleyway towards the smell of garbage. Inside, everything was dark, and it took a few seconds for Natsus eyes to adjust. The alleyway was littered with trash and a large, forgotten rusty dumpster was put away to the side. The brick walls were grimy and covered in who-knows-what, but whatever it was, it was killing Natsus nose.

He ignored it, sniffing the air to identify the stalkers. There were two. By the scent of them, he had met them before, but he couldn't quite believe his nose for a second. His eyes widened and he immdietly jumped back as a large beam of lightning smashed into where he was once standing.

"Damien, Eric!" he snarled, hands lighting as two people, one tall and one short, emerged from the shadows.

To ten million fireflies  
I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes  
I got misty eyes as they said farewell  
But I'll know where several are  
If my dreams get real bizarre  
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

Damien, a moderately tall man with short white hair, clapped. "Good job, Dragneel. You would have been incinerated if you didn't jump back any sooner." Natsu stepped back warily, but prepared to attack if he needed to. _I beat Damien a month ago, threw him off a freakin tower, why the hell is he alive?_

Eric, a short little boy who played innocent until he beat Erza and threatened to push Aiko off the edge of Clockwork Tower, cocked his head, spreading his Aera-Magic wings. "You forgot already? You didn't actually watch as Damien land on the ground and die from the impact, did you? I have wings. I caught him and brought him to safety as you went to heal Heartfilia. You actually passed right by us and didn't notice." Eric smirked under his hood, pink eyes, which normally would have been cute, taunting the Dragon Slayer. These were the people who hurt Lucy. He couldn't believe they were alive.

"Touch Lucy again and I'll make sure you don't come back alive!" Natsu growled. He wasn't letting Eric or Damien past him.

To his surprise though, Damien waved his hand. "We're not after your Lucy. We just wanted to give you something before we disappear again." the older man reached into his pocket and Natsu stepped back, preparing to leap and dodge, but he couldn't get close enough and avoid Damien's lightning, or whatever evil device Eric probably had hidden in his hands, to attack. They could probably block a breath attack.

Damien took the object out of his pocket. It was a tiny, clear orb. Natsu lowered his hands slightly, but didn't lower his guard. "We decided since it's the legendary Fire Dragon Slayer's and Celestial Spirit mage's one month anniversary, we came with a gift. Sweet Dreams, Salamander."

I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
'Cause everything is never as it seems  
When I fall asleep

The little ball slid out of Damien's hands and landed on the floor with a crack. The little glass orb broke, spewing out blue smoke. Eric grabbed Damien's back and flapped with his wings, propelling them into the air and hovering over the alleyway, also sending the fog closer to Natsu. The Dragon Slayer, expecting a weapon of mass destruction to come out, covered his face with his hands and waited for a deadly attack, but nothing happened. Slowly, the smoke inched closer.

"What was that about?" Natsu sniffed the air. The smoke was strong but didn't smell poisonous. It was worthless blue fog. Looking behind him at Lucy's window, he went inside the cloud, covering his face with his scarf and holding his breath, just to be sure. He wanted to see the broken glass orb, just to check is wasn't something bad.

Natsu couldn't see anything in the thick fog. Stepping forward carefully, he watched the ground, looking for the ball. He coughed, and then let out the breath of air he had been holding. He waved his hand in front of his face, making the smoke dance around him. He felt bad in the cloud because his better-than-the-average senses were useless, but he continued searching.

His foot nearly crushed the already broken orb. Natsu bent down, and suddenly he felt woozy. Like he had a headache. He picked up the little ball and stood back up; putting his hands over his mouth. He was beginning to panic now. The headache got worse and worse, and soon his vision started blurring. Aw crap. Natsu shuddered, no longer completely controlling his limbs. He heard laughter above him before he collapsed on the ground, just outside the smoke cloud, shivering violently, even though he wasn't cold. He started losing feeling to his arms and legs, and his mind was adrift. Soon he couldn't move.

He watched as two pairs of feet walked in front of him. "Don't worry, our little Dragon Slayer... it isn't poison. You won't die. It'll be something worse." Natsu registered the words and he was angry about it, but when he tried to flame his hands he found he couldn't. He tried to keep his eyes open, but eventually, against his will, they closed, letting him finally sleep.

I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams

* * *

**MWAHAHAHAHA! Let me be evil to you readers and give you a cliffy! MWAHAHAHA! so, please review, because I love reading them and they encourage me to write more! and faster! [Plus, should I continue with the songs?]**


	3. Chapter 2

Lucy woke up the next morning, smiling faintly when she saw her sleeping Dragon Slayer beside her. Kissing his cheek, she got up to make breakfast for them both. Knowing Natsu, he would be hungry in the morning, so she made extra portions, placing them on the stove-top to let the bacon and eggs sizzle.

She noticed the window had opened and Happy, Natsus, and hers, she reminded herself, flying talking blue cat partner, was sleeping on the bedpost, his usual spot whenever he slept over. Happy's nose was twitching, signs that he smelt breakfast cooking. He rolled over onto his back, paws in the air, and opened his eyes slowly. "Mmm... is breakfast cooking Lucy?" he asked.

The blonde smiled when she poked her head from the kitchen and saw the little cat awake. "Bacon and eggs today Happy."

The Exceed stretched his muscles, yawning. "No fish?" he asked. Lucy giggled and shook her head.

"Sorry. I haven't had time to do the groceries since your last visit." Happy frowned but flew over to the kitchen. The blonde mage followed him, reminding herself of the eggs that were still cooking. She took the spatula and flipped breakfast onto the plate. It smelled great. "Natsu!" she called, "Breakfast is served!"

The Dragon Slayer, in the other room, heard the voice and recognized the smell of bacon, even in his sleep, waking and getting up quickly. FOOD! He jumped up, got his vest and scarf on, and burst into the kitchen.

Lucy laughed when she saw her boyfriend practically leap onto the plate and scarf down the breakfast. With Natsu, breakfast took lots of preparation and no effort making it disappear. Luckily, she already ate cereal before Natsu got here so she would have a chance to eat. [and not lose her appetite.]

Natsu looked up. "Good morning Lis—" he blinked. "Who the hell are you?"

Lucy smiled. "Ha ha very funny, Dragon Slayer. Eat quickly. We gotta get to the guild. Erza wouldn't want to see us late for the mission that we planned earlier, would she?" seeing as he was done with his breakfast, Lucy grabbed his hand and pulled him upright, then dragged him off to the guild. Taken by surprise, Natsu was silenced, but went along with the blonde.

"Hey everybody!" Lucy cried, waving her hand in the air. The Fairies in the guildhall glanced at the door where the two lovebirds were standing, hand in hand, and said greetings. Lucy went inside, Natsu following. [more like being dragged along.]

The couple sat down in their usual place, and Mira came to say hello. "Hi Lucy, Natsu. Would you like breakfast?"

Lucy shook her head. "No thank you, Mira. We already had breakfast at my house." She glanced at her partner, "unless you're still hungry." Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Um, ah, no." Natsu seemed fidgety today. He was looking around nervously and scooting further down the table bench. At that moment, Erza and Gray came and sat down at the table, cutting off escape for the Dragon Slayer.

"Morning Lucy, Candlestick." Gray looked over at the couple.

Natsus head spun towards the Ice Mage. "Who you calling Candlestick, Ice Princess?"

Grays nose pointed upwards. "You, Candlestick." Natsu roared, leaping on Gray, and started another fight. First thing in the morning.

Erza and Lucy glanced at each other, smirking slightly. "idiots." They said simultaneously. The scarlet knight bent over, picked them up by the neck, and screamed in their ears, "DON'T FIGHT, IDIOTS!" they both stopped from lack of air and angry Erza, almost limp in her hands. As soon as she let go, they hugged each other in fright.

"Aye, Erza-san." They said cheerfully/fearfully. Erza calmed down and resumed eating the strawberry cake that seemingly appeared in front of the knight. Lucy blinked. Bar fights and cake in the mornings..?

Her friends were weird.

Gray and Natsu sat down across from the girls, eyeing the other warily. Gray finally spoke up. "Charcoal-for-brains, why did I find this in your scarf?" the Ice mage held up a small piece of white paper, with writing on one side.

Natsu shrugged. "I don't know. Must have gotten stuck in there while I slept. By the way—" Before he could continue, Lucy snatched the piece of paper from Gray's hand and started reading it.

TO LUCY. HOW DOES IT FEEL NOW? –DAMIEN

Lucy blinked, then showed the note to Erza, Gray, and read it to Natsu frantically. "Damien?" her eyes widened. It had to be a coincidence, right? Damien died from impact over the Clockwork Tower last month.

"Damien, he's back?" Natsu's eyes turned slit-like and he stood up. The temperature suddenly rose. "I swear if he's not dead and he comes back for Lisanna I'm gonna kill him one last time."

Everyone frowned. "Lisanna?" the silvery haired mage, at the moment sitting on the other side of the guild, was one of Natsus childhood friends. Lisanna didn't have anything to do with Damien, which confused the Fairies.

"Uh, Natsu? What do you mean, Lisanna?" Erza leaned in, delicate eyebrows pressed together.

"Uh, Lisanna, white haired Take Over mage, childhood friend, also my girlfriend?" Natsu didn't get it. How could they not remember Lisanna?

Everyone started to choke. "Natsu? Lucy's your—" Erza was cut off by the blonde, who quickly covered her hand over the knight's mouth.

The girl was starting to panic. "Natsu? Who am I?"

He blinked. "Uh, you must be a new girl or something, but I woke up with you in Lisanna's house this morning. Are you a relative or something?" Lucy's eyes were hooded when she heard that, and her bottom lip began to quiver. What happened?

Erza stood up. "Who am I?"

"Erza Scarlet." The Knight took the Dragon Slayer by the scarf and dragged him around the guild, asking him whose name was that person's. Lucy and Gray followed behind.

"Laxus Dreyar."

"Juvia Loxar."

"Charle the Exceed."

Finally, the group stopped at Lisanna. Natsu cried out happily, even half on the ground and beginning to get floor-burn on his behind. "Who's this?" Erza demanded.

"Lisanna Strauss, my girlfriend." Lisanna squinted at the Dragon Slayer. Natsu looked up irritably at the Knight. "Are we done yet?"

"What's her life story?"

"um, well, Lisanna ran away from home, but I found her at Hargeon, the port town, and I saved her from being kidnapped by Bora, and then she came back to FairyTail with me, and then we went on a lot of adventures together, and then about a month ago, we went to save Kura, and then she blocked an attack for me, and then I beat up Damien, and then after the doctors said she would be okay and we started dating. We went on a date last night."

Lisanna, still not getting why Natsu was acting like this, looked at him strangely. "Uh, Natsu? Did you hit your head or something?"

Erza ignored the question and hauled the Dragon Slayer face to face with Lucy. "Who's this?"

Natsu tried to look behind him at the Knight. "You already asked me that question."

"Answer it!"

The Dragon Slayer rolled him eyes. "I told you! I don't know! She must be a new girl because she had the mark on her right hand." He was talking about the guild mark on Lucy's hand. He looked at her in the eyes suddenly. "By the way, welcome to the family." Natsu grinned his full signature smile, holding out his hand, and Lucy's lip really began to shake.

"yeah." She bit her lip to stop the tears running. She wouldn't cry, even though she felt like collapsing on the ground and crying her eyes out. Natsu didn't even know she existed until now. "Thanks," she muttered. Quickly walking away, Lucy walked to the bathroom. Dropping Natsu, Erza and Lisanna, who saw Lucy's state of distress, followed.

_TO LUCY. HOW DOES IT FEEL NOW? –DAMIEN. _Lucy went into FairyTails empty bathroom and locked herself into a stall, sitting on the toilet and looking at her shoes. Her eyes started watering, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face. She was in shock and panic and submerged in sadness.

She sobbed, and Lisanna and Erza came into the bathroom. "Lucy?" they asked, standing outside the only closed bathroom. Erza touched the door warily; it wasn't locked and swung slowly open, showing the curled-up blonde, crying on the toilet.

* * *

Natsu, still in the guildhall, was wondering what the hell was going on. As soon as he welcomed the girl, he could smell the salty tang of tears in the air. "Yeah." The girl bit her lip and looked away from him. "Thanks," she muttered under her breath. She started walking away, and Erza dropped Natsu onto the ground roughly, Lisanna also following the new girl. It was strange enough that they started questioning him in the middle of nowhere, but now they were going after the girl.

He guessed that she was just really shy.

Gray stood there, dumbfounded. Natsu looked over at his frienemy, laughing at the look on his face. "Ha Ha, Ice Pick! You should see the look on your—" he stopped when he was roughly picked up off the floor by the ice mage. Gray's eyes were icy cold and angry.

"If this is a sick joke you're pulling on Lucy, then I'm gonna pulverize you, Ashole!" he snarled. Natsu didn't get it.

"Who's Lucy? Is that the new girl's name?" he asked. Nevermind the fact that he was being held up by his friend, but he needed to find out what the hell was going on.

The men in the guild that had heard the situation surrounded Natsu. "it's unmanly to play sick jokes on your nakama, Natsu!" Elfman cried.

"Yeah!" "stop playing games and go apologize!" "you deserve punishment!"

The group got tighter and tighter. Nobody in FairyTail liked sick jokes on their friends. This was going too far for Natsu, who did it to his _girlfriend_. The girls, who admired NaLu, wanted a piece of him too. everyone had an evil spark in their eyes.

Not soon after, they stopped beating him, leaving him on the floor groaning. He'd suffered worse, but everything hurt. The crowd loosened up, but still a dozen angry faces peered down at him. "Go apologize to Lucy, right now!" Gray roared.

Natsu got up quickly, still not getting it, [nobody had actually explained what was wrong], but went into the girls bathroom to go say sorry to the new blonde. [Also not getting that girl bathrooms are for GIRLS ONLY.]

Lucy looked up at the newcomer, her pink-haired Dragon Slayer, who was looking at her concernedly, even though she knew he didn't get what was going on. She didn't even exist as far as he knew. She felt like drowning in her own sadness, but she tried to conceal her face to hide the tears. she didn't break their gaze though.

Erza and Lisanna blocked the way quickly, cutting off their eye contact. "Natsu, Lucy doesn't want to see you right now." the Knight snapped. Lisanna next to her didn't really know what was going on either, why she was suddenly the Fire Dragon Slayers girlfriend for instance, but she would help Lucy in any way she could. The silver haired mage blocked off the entrance to Lucy's stall, hard-faced.

Lucy inside, red-eyed and shivering, wiped the tears away, trying not to sniffle because she knew he was going to hear it. On the other side, Natsu could still smell the salty acrid odour and hear her shaking, but didn't know why she was crying.

"Umm, I don't really know why, but the guys said I should apologize to... Lucy was it? But yeah, I'm sorry if I said anything that hurt you. I hope we can be friends." Lucy bit her lip to stop herself from crying more. _I hope we can be friends._ They were already more than friends, but he didn't remember that. Of course he didn't.

"Yeah. Maybe." She lied, but her voice cracked a little and she inwardly cursed. The two mages outside then shooed Natsu out the bathroom, knowing that Lucy was ready to spill again.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Lisanna asked.

"Maybe. I don't know. I feel hopeless. Just when we—" she hiccupped. "We finally had a break..."

Erza, outside the door, frowned. "We know. Damien is somehow alive and took Natsus memories." _And somehow replaced them with Lisanna's_, the knight thought silently. "But we'll find the antidote."

Lucy pouted. Yeah right. He would be long gone by now. "We'll just have to lie to him and go along with it. And—" her breathing turned heavy, she blinked fast to keep the tears at bay. "We'll find Damien, no matter what it takes."

The two mages outside shuffled awkwardly. Lisanna bit her lip. "That mean's I'll be dating Natsu." She said quietly, but Lucy heard her.

"Yeah. We can't tell him that I'm actually his girlfriend since he doesn't even remember me. it'll be forced if it happens. The only solution is for you to be what he thinks you are." Lucy finally cracked, tears spilling down her cheeks. She heard Lisanna shift a little.

"I can't do that. You're the one meant for Natsu. I may have been his childhood friend, but things have changed."

"Well, break up with him. You're officially dating him now." Lucy got up, sniffling but wiping the tears away. "I'm gonna tell Master what happened and hopefully call a meeting." She exited the stall, pushing away Erza and Lisanna, and hesitantly sent a glance at herself in the mirror. Red rings were underneath her eyes and her hair was slightly messy. Lucy fixed her bangs so they covered up a bit but I didn't really do much. The two mages behind her glanced at each other nervously, following her out of the bathroom.

Sighing, Lucy left and went outside, talking to no one and going upstairs where Master Makarovs office was, not looking forwards to it. She knocked on the dark wooden door. "Come in." A gruff voice called. Breathing in deeply, she opened the door slightly and slipped inside, closing it behind her. Master was a short little old man with grey hair but was almost always smiling. He was currently at his desk doing paperwork. "Sit down and tell me what's wrong, child. You seem upset." He said, looking up.

Lucy swallowed but did as he asked. "Natsu has completely forgotten who I am. His memories of me are replaced with Lisanna." Master dropped his pen. "And Damien's back. He was the one who took his memories."

Makarov settled back into his chair. "When did this happen?"

"Well, he remembered me yesterday, and all his memories seemed gone this morning." Thinking back, which hurt Lucy but she still did it, Natsu asked who was she, but Lucy had brushed it off as a joke. "and Damien had left a note in Natsus scarf."

Master frowned. "This is a very serious issue. What do you suppose we do?"

Lucy dug her fingernails into her legs. "I say we just go along with what he thinks until we find the antidote. Pretend like he doesn't know me and never did."

Master leaned forward, which was extremely hard to do with his short height. "Child, is that what you want or are you trying to protect him?" Lucy looked up, startled, as tears began to form in her eyes. "Since Natsu has forgotten your existence, if we tell him that you are... together, even when he doesn't know you, you think and know it'll seem forced. You are most likely correct. But if you act like you didn't know him though, you'll be taking the whole weight of the situation on your shoulders alone. Do you think it's possible that we should tell him part of the truth? It would be easier to simply tell him he lost some of his memories."

Lucy looked down. "I just don't want him hurt later on."

Master sighed. "I know. Maybe I'll set Erza and Gray to try and keep you two together and see if he remembers anything. We have to tell Team Kura too. They'll want to know that Damien's on the loose again and that they should keep their guard up. If you would, you should go tell them before I set up a conference for everyone."

Lucy nodded and stood up, beginning to head for the door. "Thank you Master."

"Just remember Lucy, whatever you tell him, it is your choice." Lucy closed the door behind her, wiping away tears that were forming in her eyes. Underneath her, Natsu looked up as the new girl came out, noticing the subtle wiping of her eyes.

_Please let nothing else happen_, Lucy thought, going downstairs and walking towards Team Kura, who were sitting against the wall chatting quietly. her concealed her frown with a fake smile.

She would have to get used to it.


	4. Chapter 3

**I'm very sorry for posting late! here's the next chapter! *grins and sweatdrops***

* * *

Kura, Ren, and Aiko looked up as Lucy went up to their table. "Hey Lucy." "Hey!" "hello." They all greeted her warmly but then recognized the waves of distress coming off of her.

Kura, a purple haired mage that they met a little more than a month ago, wore a simple violet dress with a long black vest on top. She was an Energy Dragon Slayer, meaning she could eat anything that had energy in it, although she still preferred using the sword at her hip. It could change into several different forms. Kura was drinking a cup of coffee as Lucy came forward.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" The purple haired mage lowered her cup and frowned at her friend's obvious anguish.

"Yeah, Lucy you seem sad." Aiko the little purple Exceed pouted. She was a shy little cat that was sensitive to other people's emotions. Aiko had purple fur, a bushy tail, and sprout wings like all Exceeds could if she wished.

Ren, on the other side of the table, was a darker skinned man who wasn't as close as Kura or Aiko was to Lucy. He was broad shouldered and about as tall as Gray, wearing a red and yellow shirt with crimson pants. Team Natsu and Kura and Aiko had saved him from the Clockwork Tower last month, and he was the Energy Dragon Slayer's childhood friend. After all that had happened, Kura and Ren started dating.

Lucy seemed to forget how to speak, and she wasn't sure how to tell them. "Damien is back and he took all of Natsus memories of me!" The blonde blurted. Kura frowned, then completely registered the information and immediately spat out the coffee she was drinking, also spraying Ren in the face. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and handed Ren a napkin sheepishly.

"Ew." Ren commented, cleaning off his limbs.

"But Damien's back!" Kura stood up and Lucy quickly pushed her back down.

"Shhh! Master's about to set up a conference and Natsu will hear you if you get any louder!" she hissed, tears once again forming in her eyes. "We can't have him knowing." Letting go of Kura's shoulders, she was gripping them tightly she noted, she stepped back, wiping away the water and breathing in deeply.

"But, Damien took all of Natsu's memories of you? How is that possible?" Aiko asked.

"All of his memories of me are replaced with Lisanna. He found Lisanna at Hargeon. He got 'DAYBREAK' from Everlue's mansion with Lisanna. Before he 'met me' this morning, I didn't even exist." Lucy pouted and looked away, grabbing her shoulder with one hand. She felt sick. Physically ill. "Damien put this into Natsu's scarf." She held up the note and Kura took it gently. Reading it over, she showed it to Ren and Aiko.

She handed it back. "So Damien didn't die." She said quietly.

"I don't know any other Damien's. And besides, who else would want revenge on Natsu and I other than him when Gray found this conveniently tucked into his scarf?" Lucy asked. Her stomach was churning.

"You're right. We should keep our guard up." They all looked at her and the second mental weight seemed to crash down on her shoulders.

"Everyone!" Master called. The Fairies looked up, where Master Makarov was standing on the banister. Lucy looked around. Natsu wasn't here, but everyone else was. He was likely pushed out.

"We have very disappointing and sad news." He started. The Fairies shifted. If Master got involved with the words 'disappointing' and 'serious' it was likely grim. "Damien, the villain who Team Natsu and Team Kura defeated last month is back. He has stolen all of Natsu's memories of Lucy, most likely for revenge of his defeat. From now on, we will be playing by Natsu's new memories, so act like Lucy is a new member since last night while he is around. Also possibly try to keep them together and hope he remembers who she is.

Master looked up at the ceiling, then refocused on the guild members below him, voice raising. "He dared touch our guild once. He dared hurt two of our guild members. From now on, we will send out search parties to find his whereabouts and send him to jail, where Damien properly belongs." Most of the Fairies cheered, while some members looked concernedly at Lucy in the background.

"Wendy, Lisanna, Team Natsu including Natsu, and Team Kura, you should go look at Lucy's house where this all started. Try to find any clues towards Damien's location."

"Aye." Everyone went off while the named people collected together. Someone found Natsu and pushed him towards the group. Lucy almost cried seeing him, but bit back tears, hardening herself for what was coming. She put on a fake smile.

"So, we shall follow Master's orders and go to Luc—Lisanna's house." Erza corrected herself, glancing at Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer didn't seem to notice.

"Natsu, since Lucy's new to the guild we decided to take her with us to try and find Damien!" Gray announced to him. The pink haired boy shrugged.

"Okay, good with me. What magic do you use?" He turned to Lucy, making her uncomfortable.

"C-Celestial Spirit Magic." Natsu frowned.

"What is that magic? I've never heard of it."

Lucy sunk deeper into her pool of misery. Of course he never knew what Celestial Spirit Magic was if he never met her. "I summon Spirits from the Celestial Spirit World."

Natsu smiled. "Sounds good. Nice to have you on the team." But he quickly turned back to Gray and started fighting him. Wendy, the small blue-haired Dragon Slayer looked up at Lucy concernedly.

"Are you okay Lucy-san?"

"I'm fine."

Wendy crossed her arms across her chest. "Lucy, are you really fine?"

Lucy's eyes were hooded. "No, I guess I'm not. It'll just take some getting used to. We don't know how long he'll be like this."

The young Sky Dragon Slayer looked up. "If it's mental problems I could probably help. Healing his mind, but I don't know how much it'll do. If anything, if I healed him only half-way it could scramble his mind even more. But I don't think that's the case." Wendy's eyes turned distant.

"Damien is smart, and he probably checked up on FairyTails databases before doing this. He wouldn't choose a spell so easily dispelled, especially if there's a Sky Dragon Slayer in the guild. My guess is that he used an orb to collect his memories, shifted them, then allowed the babies to swarm back inside his head, leaving the parent memories behind."

Lucy looked at her nakama. "You can do something like that?"

"Yes. It would take a high level of Magic, but I'm pretty sure he could do it. Of course, this type of Magic isn't permanent, but if my theory is true than I can't just heal him. I could easily take out the Baby memories, but this would leave giant gaps in his mind that wouldn't be... easily replaced. It's best to regain the parent memories and put them back into his head, and then get rid of the Babies."

Lucy sighed. "So if that's what happened then we would have to find Damien before we help Natsu, right?" she watched Natsu, who had stopped fighting with Gray to hold hands with Lisanna. The silver-haired mage was very nervous, and kept trying to pull her hand out subtly, but Natsu wouldn't let go. _At least he wasn't trying to kiss her,_ Lucy thought miserably.

They reached Lucy/Lisanna's house shortly, Lucy passing the key to her house so that the other female mage could open it. "Okay, here's the plan." Erza announced. "Wendy, Lucy, Kura and Natsu will go look outside. Gray, Lisanna, and I will look inside. Ren and Aiko will do an aerial spot." Lucy thought it was a good plan. Team her up with Natsu, getting Ren in the air because he had good eyes, Erza to search, and three Dragon Slayers powerful noses to try and sniff Damien out.

The groups headed out to do what Erza commanded. Lucy's group headed towards the canal. "I think the alleyways are the best place to search first." Kura said. She was looking up nervously at her two team mates up in the air, scouting above. Lucy knew what she was worried about. With Damien on the loose it wasn't good enough to be two on your own.

"Yeah, I guess." Lucy was the only non-Dragon Slayer here. Wendy and Natsu had excellent senses, including smell and hearing and possibly sight, and Kura had begun to get improved senses after she realized she was a Dragon Slayer.

Lucy reached into her satchel and grabbed a pair of gloves she always kept around. Putting them on, she followed the main group into the first alleyway and started searching. They found nothing, so they moved onto the next.

* * *

Several alleys later, the Dragon Slayers all tensed in front of the second last alley, a little off from the front of Lucy's house. "What's up guys?"

All three started sniffing the air. "It smells funny." Wendy stated.

"For one thing it doesn't really smell like garbage, like it should. There's something masking the odour." Kura said stepping forwards.

"Yeah. It used to be really thick, but the smell must have faded overnight." Natsu frowned, and then went into the alley. The others followed. Lucy didn't smell anything until they got deeper. There was the faint smell of...

"It smells like charcoal." Lucy blinked. It really did.

The three Dragon Slayers turned around. "To me it smells like snakes." Wendy said.

"Vanilla." Natsu said.

"Fresh cut wood" Kura frowned. "Okay, this smell has something wrong. Charcoal, snakes, vanilla, and wood all have very different smells."

"Yeah," The Sky Dragon Slayer said. "For me it clearly smells like snake."

"Let's all go deeper and see if we can still find anything." Lucy said. The group continued walking, quickly checking garbage piles and corners to see if there was any signs of Damien. The smell was getting stronger, and Lucy found herself subconsciously tapping her Gate keys on her belt.

"What's that?" Natsu asked, pointing. It was shattered glass, all in a fairly neat pile. Everyone bent over the mess. It was where the smell was originating from.

"It smells like him." Kura said. Nobody needed help with who 'Him' was. The Energy Dragon Slayer carefully picked up the largest fragment, where something blue, looking like smoke, was trapped. She sniffed it curiously.

"It smells like him." she repeated. The group looked at her in confusion.

"Kura-san, you already said that." The little Sky Dragon Slayer said. Kura looked at her, blinking.

"I did?"

"Maybe the smoke make you forget." Lucy said.

"It makes sense. And look," Wendy pointed to the broken glass. "They're all curved perfectly in the shape of an orb. The orb could have contained the smoke."

Natsu took the glass fragment gently from Kura. "I wanna try." He said, and then smelled it. Almost instantly, he started gagging, and he dropped the glass fragment, shattering it and releasing the smoke.

"Uh, Wendy! We need medical support!" Lucy cried. The little Dragon Slayer was already on it. She hit him on the back, hard, making him cough more, but a little tendril of smoke flew from his mouth. Natsu gasped for air but he seemed fine now. "I could have done that." Lucy muttered.

"Rule number one; don't let Natsu sniff the smoke," Kura said, bending over Natsu and helping him up.

"Why not?" the Fire Dragon Slayer asked, perfectly fine now.

"You forgot. Of course." Lucy couldn't help her old stubborn self come in. Natsu looked at her strangely, and immediately she clammed up. It looked strange that the shy girl that he just met wasn't so shy anymore.

Wendy covered for her. "Well, Natsu, as soon as you sniffed the smoke, you started gagging. It's signs that you have already experienced it. For example, some types of medicine you don't take twice, because the effects become bad for your body. Since you forgot yesterday, you must have inhaled a lot of the smoke to forget that much."

He blinked. "What did I forget?" Wendy clammed up, realizing her mistake. Crap.

Lucy swallowed, preparing to make up yet another lie. "Natsu, you've completely forgot me. We haven't known each other for too long, but for some reason Damien made you forget me." _it was a semi-lie_, Lucy tried to reassure herself. I'm going to tell him one day, but not now.

"Why would he do that? So I've known you for how long?" Lucy was trying, and failing, to come up with a good lie.

"Well, I came in with Kura and Aiko to the guild. A month ago." Natsu frowned, but didn't push it. He could tell she was lying, but if she didn't want to tell him, he wouldn't cross the barrier.

Natsu looked back at the glass, and Lucy knew that he didn't believe her. She cursed. _I will tell him one day._

"Look what I found!" Wendy cried. The group snapped out of its stupor and looked at the Sky Dragon Slayer. She was bent over something.

"it's a Magic-Made feather." She held the pristine white feather up in the air. It hummed softly with Magic.

Lucy took it gently from her hands. "A feather..." she murmured, and then her eyes narrowed. "Eric." She hissed. Eric was the Aera-Magic user that tricked the group last month. He appeared to be a little kid but was really a thieving, conniving mage. "Eric and Damien are the ones behind it." Lucy was accustomed to having Happy shed his feathers in her house sometimes. Even if his wings disappeared, shed feathers didn't.

"Damien was thrown off the tower, but if Eric had wings he could have caught him." Kura stated. "It makes sense. If Damien survived his wounds the two of them could have made a team. Knowing who they wanted revenge on, they targeted you two, deciding to make Natsu forget about Lucy." Kura looked up in the air and sweatdropped as she realized her mistake. "Of course, their plan must have gone wrong. They were aiming for Lisanna's memories, but somehow got them confused with Lucy's and that's why Natsu can no longer remember her." She looked at Wendy and Lucy sheepishly, putting on a wide, guilty smile. The two sweatdropped.

Luckily Natsu didn't notice the slip. "I am gonna punch their faces in the next time I see them." He punched his knuckles together, the temperature suddenly rising. The group exited the alley.

"Everyone! Over here! We found something!" Kura called. Head popped out from the house and Ren in the air dropped down with Aiko. Everyone walked towards their team.

"We found a feather!" Natsu announced.

"What's a feather gonna do?" Gray automatically demanded, in his boxers. The two started fighting, but Lucy and Erza pulled them apart quickly. They clocked them on the head, hard, knocking them out cold. Little chibi ghost flew from their skulls.

"This feather belongs to Eric." Erza bent down, face to face with Gray with her scary look on. "does it need any more description? We now know that Damien and Eric are working together." Gray nodded quickly and she stood up. "We could trace them with this, but we'd need to go quickly, before the smell washes off."

Everyone nodded. "Who volunteers?" Lucy, Erza, and Gray raised their hands, Natsu cried out his approval, and Kura's group nodded. Lisanna and Wendy were the only ones who didn't offer.

Natsu pouted and started whining. "Lis-anna! Why aren't you coming?"

The silver haired mage shot a quick look at Lucy, turning uncomfortable. Her fingers tapped nervously on her arm. "Uh, erm. Natsu, I'm kinda busy here."

"With what? I can stay and help you."

Lisanna looked away. "It's... personal. You go without me." Lucy inwardly groaned. That was the WORST thing you could say to Natsu to get him to leave. He would never leave someone behind.

"But Lisanna! We can't leave you behind!" he said, confirming her suspicions. "And besides, what if Damien comes back and tries to hurt you! I can't help you if you're away from me!"

A vein popped in Lisanna's forehead. "Go, you fiery moron!" Lucy didn't know the polite silver mage had it in her to yell at someone. Chuckling softly as Natsu 'aye-ed' and ran to go with the group, only reminding herself painfully that Lisanna just did what she used to do. Yell at Natsu when he was being endearingly stupid. She was sure that she was just as scary as the Take Over mage was when she was mad.

"Oh, Lu— Lisanna's in her scary mode! Better run Natsu!" Gray teased, sending a sheepish, apologetic half-smile at the Celestial Spirit mage. He always would mock whipped Natsu whenever he became soft when Lucy was angry, and it was another, along with stripping, habit of his now.

"Shaddup, Ice Princess StripperPants!" Natsu roared, sending a quick jet of flame his way. Gray swiped it aside, but coughed as the Dragon Slayer leapt on his chest, making him tumble backwards.

A vein in Lucy's forehead popped. "SHADDUP, YOU IDIOTIC MORONS!" the two quickly stumbled away from each other, Gray looking up with a guilty grin on his face and Natsu looking at her strangely. Lucy looked away shyly. She knew it was bad to act like she knew them fondly, instead of treating them like strangers, but sometimes she messed up. The emotional stress was weighing on her like a pile of bricks, causing her only thoughts to be directed towards her issues. She had a lot of them right now.

The Celestial Spirit mage was dancing on a theoretical greased stage surrounded by emotional knives. If she slipped, she would be impaled straight onto the daggers, but if she stayed she would have to dance and dance for the rest of her life.

The only way out was to find the ring leader.

* * *

**So, I hope you guys like this chapter! yay! **

**To my reviewers; **

**KanaeHitomi, thanks for reviewing! I was aiming for suspense! Expect lots of it, plus action and fluff in the future! :D **

**Dyeni, unfortunately for you, there'll be a lot happening before the two get closer, since he see's her as a weird, shy/tempered girl at the moment. Hehehe, but expect lots of... *a-hem* moments! **

**and LifeIsWaiting; thank you for reviewing a lot so much! I love getting reviews from you! lets go scream and fangirl together from absolute fluffiness! [or fanguy. I'm a girl, so I just... yeah. sorry if you're a guy] *grins sheepishly***

**Plus, I'm sorry this chapter took so long! arg! I started watching Soul Eater [very good anime, plus it comes in dubs.] I started [and finished] it in an embarrassingly short period of time, but I finally managed to squeeze in some time to write this chapter! I give you permission to hit me because I took so long! {;_;} **

**The next chapter will be coming soon!**


	5. Chapter 4

The group was packing up quickly so Eric's scent on the feather wouldn't fade before they left. The little twerp was with Damien, and they were unlikely to split up from one another. That was Erza's logic, and no one would dare go against it.

_ At least if they found Eric I could beat the answer out of him_, Lucy seethed quietly, waiting for the others. The group decided to meet up in ten minutes back at her house, but so far only Lucy, Erza, and Kura's group were fully packed and at the designated spot.

Lucy was pacing restlessly in front of her door, the dull ache in her stomach beginning to come back, and since Natsu wasn't here the feeling to cry. She had a killer headache too, which didn't help her agitated bothered mood in the faintly chilly weather. She had taken an Advil before leaving the frantic get-together of clothes, weapons, or anything else she needed, but so far the pain wasn't diminishing. A breeze had started to pick up, also stirring her more. _The smell will blow away if Natsu and Gray don't come—_

She was cut off when two figures skid around the corner and crashed into her, knocking into the ground. Her legs kicked up on impulse and she boot the attackers in the crotch with her combat boots, rolling over and wielding one of her keys threatingly. It was a very smooth move, that came with practice on missions, but she lowered the Key when she realized that her 'attackers' were Natsu and Gray themselves, on the ground, holding their crotches and groaning. The Celestial Spirit mage turned a furious shade of beet-red. Crap.

"A-aw... Luce... what did you do that for?" Natsu moaned.

"S-sorry..."

"Yeah, wh-what Flame-brain said... ow" Gray's voice cracked and turned high on the last syllable. They both got up, wincing a little but shakily getting on their feet. As soon as they steadied themselves though, Erza fwapped them hard on the black, pushing them down again.

"THAT was for running late." The Knight announced. Everyone sweatdropped.

Eventually the two mages got up and Natsu took a hold of the feather. He muttered something under his breath about 'weird being used as a tracking dog and I'm only doing this for Lisanna,' before sniffing. "Well, Eric took off with Damien into the air, but they just stayed there for a minute or two before coming back down about..." Natsu crossed the canal with the group behind him, walked over to a spot, then pressed his foot down on the stones, "here. I can also smell me here, lying on the ground. I came from the alleyway, most likely crawling." His nose wrinkled, probably at the fact he was crawling in front of two evil villains, especially because he didn't remember it.

"And then they..." Natsu started walking back towards the house, looking at his feet, sniffing furiously. "They went back to Lisanna's house and unlocked the door, carrying me. And they went upstairs, and plopped me in the bed again." he frowned. "That smells about right. Then Eric took Damien and flew... that way." The Fire Dragon Slayer pointed east.

"They took their time though. It's almost like they want us to find them." Natsu pouted. "I think it's bait, so we chase after them so he can do a turnaround and get Lisanna." Everyone knew that wasn't the case, but nobody said anything.

Lucy thought for a moment in the silence. The Dragon Slayers, Natsu and Kura, had the best means to track Damien, but she knew if the villains used Magic to get around, it was very likely that they would never find them. On the other hand, if what Natsu said was true, they could be walking into a trap.

But knowing Damien, he would want to put on a show, so he would want for the Fairies to find him, Lucy thought. "So, we follow the feather until we find their location?" Ren asked Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer nodded.

"How do we know that they're not making us go on a wild goose chase?"

Kura touched her boyfriend's arms gently. "If Natsu's smell is half as good as mine now, then we can follow Eric's scent even if we're two days behind them." Ren nodded in understanding. "we'll know if their doing a turnaround."

"Okay, so we head east and try to catch Eric and Damien. Since Eric is like Happy—" you could hear an 'Aye' in the background, "we're not sure if they're flying, walking, or riding the train. We can most likely take out walking, but if they're flying then they'll need rest eventually. Of course, if they don't have too much money, this rides transportation out." Erza thought out loud. "So this means they're likely riding the train."

"I think we'd better take the train, and then continue walking." Natsu groaned in the background, but knew it was no use to argue against Titania. So they headed off to the train station.

* * *

"Help me..." Natsu groaned. Lucy sat next to him, glancing over concernedly. Erza and Gray sat across from them.

"Are you okay Natsu?" the Celestial mage asked the collapsed man.

"I'm f-fine..."

Lucy's eyebrows furrowed. "You don't look okay." Wendy preformed the Trioa to fight off his motion sickness for awhile, but it had started to fade away. Lucy knew that it would eventually, but seeing Natsu like this had given her home/boyfriend-sickness.

"I'm fine." He said sickly.

* * *

A couple hours later, everyone except Natsu and Lucy had fallen asleep. The two stayed in an awkward silence. Natsu was the first to interrupt the uncomfortable silence.

"How do I really know you?" he demanded. "Everyone's been acting weird around me when I'm around you. I could tell you were lying when you said you came in the guild a month ago. Seriously, what is everyone not telling me?"

Lucy looked away, biting her lip. "It's the truth. I came into the guild with my friends Kura and Aiko a month ago."

Natsu glanced over at her looking very sick, but the look of doubt and uncertainty was clear. He scoffed. "If you're not gonna tell me, I'll find out on my own."

They didn't talk after that, and eventually Lucy fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

_ Lucy was on her knees, head low, tears clouding her vision. "You weren't strong enough to protect them..." the voice hissed. This time, the dream changed, two figures coming into Lucy's vision. It was Damien and Eric. _

_ "See? You needed Natsu to protect you last time, and now Natsu is gone. What are you going to do now? You don't have the protection of your Dragon, Heartfilia." Damien smiled wolfishly. _

_ "In the end, you'll never protect your friends. You always let them down. You are outshadowed, everyday, the weak link in your group." Eric extended his wings. "Could you defeat one hundred monsters in a row? Could you beat Ultear on your own? What about stand strong in the face of an opponent, not looking like the little trembling girl you are? You were never powerful and never will be. When it comes to their final breaths, you won't be able to help them." The older man snapped his fingers, and they faded. _

_ The shadows began to creep closer to her. Lucy whimpered, but she was surrounded by the greedy, cruel hands that reached out, straining to swallow her in the darkness. The stretched closer and closer and then the glorious flame appeared above her, lighting up the space around her, keeping the shadows at bay. _

_ She knew it wouldn't last. Watching in despair as the flame flickered, and then extinguished, the hands inched closer._ She opened her mouth to scream, but then she was jolted awake.

"Lucy..! Lucy!" the blonde opened her eyes in a flash, breathing heavily. Her head whipped towards her right, expecting another horror calling her name, but it was Natsu, holding her shoulder, looking a little green. She barely calmed down though, still part-way asleep and in a panic. "You were having a nightmare."

"I-It was the same dream. Damien and E-Eric were after you and I couldn't—" she shut it quickly, realizing what she was about to blurt out. His onyx eyes narrowed.

"You couldn't what?"

"N-Nothing."

His patience was wearing thin, even on a train where he could barely muster enough energy to complain. "Please, Lucy, tell me what's wrong."

"It was a nightmare. That's it." the girl stood up and reached for Kura's bag in the overhead, where she knew there was a thick blanket stored in the magical bag. Getting the blue blanket out, she wrapped herself in it, and covered her head and face over.

Natsu could smell tears underneath the covers, and they did nothing to conceal her heavy shaking. Maybe he'd been too harsh. "Lucy? I'm sorry if it was something I said. I want to be friends." The salty tang didn't leave, but the girl under the covers sniffled. "But could you please tell me who you are?"

There was a slight hesitation. "N-Natsu? I can't tell you who I am. I-I just can't. Please don't ask. But I do want to be friends. I don't care about the past." Underneath the blankets, Lucy was wiping her tears away quickly. She couldn't cry every time Natsu talked to her.

"O-okay." The Dragon Slayer pouted. "what was the nightmare about? You can tell me."

"It was nothing. Just a recurring nightmare I have sometimes." Her head lifted a bit from the covers and she watched Natsu fight away motion sickness for his 'friend'. He caught her look and stared back irritably.

"Are you gonna tell me anything about yourself?"

She smiled shakily. If she told anything that had happened in the past, technically, nine years, her lie would shatter apart. "I was raised by a rich community but ran away from home because my dad was mean to me. He was so immersed in his work that he ignored me after my mom's death."

He frowned. "Wow. That sounds a lot like Lisanna's storyline. Except that Lisanna ran away from Elfman and Mira and got adopted by a rich family. After her adoptive mother died, Lisanna told me that her father ignored her also. Eventually she ran away from that too."

"And then I met her again at Hargeon." He started recounting adventures that they had together, including the Meeting Bora, Duke of Everlue mission, Galuna island, all of which Lucy knew like the back of her hand because _she_ was the one there, not Lisanna.

She didn't feel so good, like Natsus motion sickness was suddenly contagious. She didn't to peel the fake smile on her face though. There was sadness, anger, and jealousy roiling around in her stomach when she looked at _her_ Dragon Slayer, who was talking about _her_ life and being completely oblivious about it. She didn't want to, but just in the tiniest bit, she was angry at Lisanna, even though it wasn't her fault that Natsu didn't remember her.

But most of her anger was towards Eric and Damien. It was their fault. There was no excuse, they were gonna get it when they hunted them down. She didn't know what she was gonna do, but she would get the antidote to Natsus memory loss and get revenge for what they did to him. There was an ache in her stomach. An insatiable ache that could only be soothed by Damien's hurt. The sad blue was replaced with an angry red as she listened to her Fire Dragon Slayers empty words, filled with lies. He did this, and they were gonna pay.

Natsu didn't realize that his new friend had fallen asleep until she slumped sideways, falling into his lap. He 'huhed,' and lifted the covers a bit, chuckling when he saw her eyes closed and breathing heavy. He grinned, showing off his sharp canines, but let her stay on his knees. The boy even shifted her position so she was more comfortable.

The Dragon Slayer chuckled at the sleeping face of his new partner and friend below him, but then his cheeks blew up. Aw crap. He opened the window slightly to let fresh, cold air in, but remembered the girl on his lap, who had begun to shiver, even wrapped up in a blanket. The girl got cold easily, so he turned his heated body temperature up slightly [it wasn't hard to do when it felt like he had a fever,] so that the Celestial Spirit mage didn't catch a cold because of him.

The Dragon Slayers eyelids grew heavy. Looking down one last time, his head buried itself into the white scaled scarf around his neck and his orbs shut.

Lucy didn't have any more nightmares after that. Only sweet dreams of revenge.

"Lucy. Lucyyyyyy." An annoying voice dragged Lucy unwillingly from her pleasant sleep. The Celestial Spirit mage winced.

"Lu-u-u-u-u-cy!" her brains rattled as her attacker took her shoulders and shook hard. In retaliation, the blonde swung a fist towards the voice. She wasn't a morning person, and never would be. Her fist connected with something, or someone, and they stumbled back.

"Oi! Lucy, wakeup!" her behind burned and she jumped up in surprise, getting tangled in the sheets, and then falling down back to the ground, yelping. She glared at the pink-haired boy who had woke her on the floor. He grinned in response, even though it was slightly deformed from a large bump starting to form on his cheek. "Yes, we all know you're a sleepyhead in the mornings, but you gotta get up. It's a time to celebrate! The train's stopped."

She stared at him grumpily, twisting herself from the load of blanket. "You woke me up for that? Couldn't you just given me five more minutes?"

"Yeah, I gave you ten. Now get up!" he hauled her up by her armpits, [to her surprise,] shoved a bundle of clothes in her arms, and pushed her to the bathroom stalls. "Now come on! Erza said we can't leave until you're done and with us."

"Yeah yeah." Knowing she didn't want an angry Erza in the too-compact train, she headed for the stall. Closing the door behind her, the girl changed quickly and headed back to their benches. Opening the overhang, looking for her bag, she noted that it was gone, along with everyone else's.

"Looking for this?" she spun around, where Kura was holding her satchel on the tips of her fingers. Lucy smiled and took it gently.

"Thanks." The two mages started walking together.

"So, how are you feeling?" Lucy looked over at the Energy Dragon Slayer.

"Fine. I'm not sad anymore."

"That's good." Kura smiled, handing the tickets to the train conductor, happy that her friend had gotten over her forgetting Ex. Well, she wasn't quite sure of their relationship status now, because Natsu didn't remember her, but they never really broke up in the first place, did they?

Lucy started again. "But I'm angry now. When I see Damien and Eric again, they won't be seeing another sunrise." Kura swallowed nervously at her friends words. She was serious; the fiery burning in her brown orbs told her so.

"O-okay..." the purple haired sword-user looked ahead.

"Hey guys! What took you so long?" Natsu cried out. Everyone was crowded in front of the town's entrance, and Lucy had a slight shock when she realized where they were. The smell of sea-salt and the sound of loud horns and seagull's calls were in the air.

"It's Hargeon." Lucy breathed. The town where her and Natsu met. It was a small seaside town where she was kidnapped and he saved her. Lucy's eyes softened. Even when they first met he was protecting the girl.

They walked inside the town's gates, where there were a giant U of houses and warehouses around the docks facing the sea. It was a quiet type of town, until—

"Hey! It's Pinky!" someone shouted. The group turned their heads to look at a man, who was pointing his finger at Natsu. Passerby looked where the man was pointing, so everyone was staring at the Dragon Slayer. Lucy mentally sighed. _Only five minutes here and we already have the spotlight._

Natsu blinked, and then the expression turned irritated. "what? Why are you all looking at my awesomeness?"

"Pinky?" The guy who destroyed the docks nine years ago?" "The one on the wanted list?"

"Aw crap!" Natsu and Lucy took their friends sleeves, and at the same time, said, "we gotta go!" Lucy didn't think that they'd _still_ remember the guy who destroyed the town _nine years ago_, but since then, they hadn't gone back to Hargeon, had they?

A squadron of soldiers came stomping down the road, and the group understood. Everyone started running, a giant dust cloud behind them.

* * *

**XD so, I'm not sure when's the next time I'm gonna post, but I'll try to ASAP. I tried to get this chapter in quickly to make up for lost time. **

**TO MY REVEIWERS FOR CHAPTER 3!**

**to GoldenRoseTanya: I totally agree. I hoped for that reaction! thank you for taking your time to review! ;D**

**and Dyeni; well, we'll be seeing lotsa cute fluff in the next few chappys! **

**ReViEw! [i'll give you a virtual cookie [and a review reply!]] -Pikaskye**


	6. Chapter 5

**Yay! I didn't post late, so that's good! I went to a really big waterpark with my cousin this weekend! It was fun! But anyways, here's the next chapter! I don't own Fairy Tail, blahblahblahblahblahblah. [I wished though]**

* * *

"What... was that about?" Gray panted.

The guards had stopped chasing them after a few minutes of running and everyone was breathing hard except Erza and the Exceeds. They had to hide behind a couple buildings and posts until the squad ran past them, and eventually the group met back up outside of town under a single large tree.

"Err..." Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, the last time I went to Hargeon I kinda destroyed part of the town with Lisanna." Lucy bit back a flicker of spite, and looked up in surprise when he turned to her. "What about you?"

She was only paying half attention. "What?"

"You ran from the guards the same time I did. What did you do in Hargeon?"

"Oh. I- uh... long story."

Natsu snorted and rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He knew he was being childish, but something about Lucy pulled him, made him too curious, and she wasn't talking about herself. It made Natsu's brain itch whenever he thought about it. He was almost sure that he didn't meet her along with Kura and Aiko.

"Okay, we'll disguise Natsu and Lucy and head back inside."

A few minutes later, Natsu was dressed in Ren's oversized clothes and wearing Gray's hat, tucking in his pink hair and concealing his black vest. Lucy was wearing Kura's vest over her clothing and tied up her hair. Still, it wasn't the greatest disguises. Natsu wouldn't even take off his scarf. It wasn't hard to tell who they really are.

Everyone frowned at the two. "It sucks. We're not getting far if they know those two are around already."

Aiko's ears perked up. "Oo! I have an idea!" The purple cat spread her wings and got up, flying to Kura. She landed on her shoulder, and then climbed down to the bag slung on it. She reached inside, searching furiously, tail waving. It took her a minute to find it, but she finally pulled something from the bag. Hiding them behind her back, she flew to the poorly disguised mages.

Lucy saw a flash of pink before something was shoved on her face and all she could see was black. It took her a moment before she could see. She looked over at Natsu, seen darkly, and immediately began laughing. The Dragon Slayer was wearing blue, ridiculously large sunglasses decorated with two little orange stars in the corners. Along with the too large clothing and giant hat, he looked ridiculous.

Scowling at Lucy, he said. "Hey, you don't look much better." It was true. Kura's vest on her was too long, meaning it reached to her ankles, her hair was done strangely, and the pink starry glasses magnified her brown eyes even bigger than they already were. His mouth twitched into a smirk, and then he burst out laughing.

"Hey!" she fwapped him on the back of the head. "I can make anything look great."

"Well, come on idiots, you both look stupid but we have to go follow that smell." Kura on the train had noticed the scent of Eric swerving off into Hargeon, so they stopped here [and then got chased out again,] but they needed to get inside to follow the smell before it faded.

Natsu blew a tiny spew of fire at Gray and Lucy hit his arm. "Fine whatever. We should split into groups so it's less likely to be found. We're too big of a group." Lucy pointed out.

Erza nodded. "Sure. Kura, Ren, and Aiko, you follow the smell from the left. Kura will be the... smeller. Gray, Happy, and I will follow from the main street. Happy, you'll be in charge of sniffing issues."

"Aye!" the blue cat held his hand up.

"Lucy and Natsu, you'll go by the back roads. If you get in trouble, do not face the guards or anyone else. Try and find us before you retaliate."

"Yeah fine, fine." Natsu drawled, voice pitching higher. "Don't talk to strangers and don't accept food from them. We know." The funnily dressed Dragon Slayer took Lucy's sleeve and headed back to the cluster of buildings and the town beyond it. They disappeared behind the corner of the space between two houses.

* * *

Lucy watched Natsu with mild interest as he lifted his head and sniffed at the fourth turn, mouth slightly open as he tasted the air. He looked like a dog almost. The female mage almost giggled because of the funny thought.

Natsu glanced at her. "What?"

"Nothing. Just a funny thought." he smiled slightly, then continued pulling the edge of Kura's vest, bringing Lucy along with him. The alleys weren't exactly clean, but they weren't as bad smelling as the ones in Magnolia. There were a lot of side tunnels, but the Dragon Slayer seemed to know where he was going. Suddenly he stopped at the twelfth corner, pushing the girl roughly back, pressing her against the wall, covering her body with his own. Her face flushed red. "Wha—"

The pink-haired boy pressed a finger on her lips, effectively shutting her up. Everything was quiet. Lucy's eyes flashed around frantically and her ears strained to hear any unnatural noises, but she didn't sense a thing..

"Dat man got us a lot of mullah just to deliver a note." The gruff voice was surprisingly close and loud, surprising the heck out of the Celestial Spirit mage. She nearly jumped, but pressed up against Natsu she couldn't.

"Yeah! I mean 300,000J from a little blonde kid?" it took barely a second to register. Lucy's eyes narrowed. _A little blonde kid, eh?_ The second voice was higher than the first, but they were both clearly men.

"But he was a mage." The first reminded the other man. The voice passed by the alley the two were hidden in. Two shadows, one tall and one slightly short, skimmed across the ground.

"True." Lucy was practically trembling with anger. She had an eye-to-eye conversation with Natsu, who was shaking his head hard.

_Let me go. _

_ No, Erza said not to attack. _For once, the Fire Dragon Slayer was the sane one. Lucy was practically bristling with anger. _You could get hurt. _His eyes softened slightly, but were still firm. Lucy silently snarled, reaching down to get one of her keys. She didn't expect Natsu to stop her, grabbing her wrist. He didn't remember her magic, did he?

His eyes were solemn. _We'll tag them. No need to get serious. _Lucy seethed, but pushed him away. They waited for a moment before going down the path the two men went down. With Natsu's acute hearing and scenting abilities, the two could follow from a safer distance.

But Lucy wouldn't make eye contact with the Dragon Slayer. Natsu noted her slightly jerky movements and the scowling expression. She was mad, but there was a guilty look in her orbs, and he didn't know what to do about it. Everything he did seemed to put her on edge, even though he just wanted to be friends. Plus he wanted to get back to Lisanna and make sure she was okay.

Revenge, self-hatred, and Natsu were the only things on Lucy's mind right now. The pressure and strain of everything happening right now was making her temper short and she wasn't dealing with it well, hating herself for snapping at her team mates. She realized this and it made her guilty and even more self-depressed.

The voices stopped, right around the bend. Lucy pressed up against the wall and her hands inched closer to her keys, preparing to spring. Natsu followed behind her, holding up his fingers. _Three, two—_

A hand shot out from around the corner and snatched Lucy's wrist, pulling her roughly. Something cold and sharp was pressed to her neck, a pocketknife she noticed, and her arms were put in such a way that she couldn't reach her keys.

Natsu made a move to catch the girl as she yelped and disappeared around the bend, but he was a split second too late and she ended up in her captor's arms. "Stay right where you are, Pinky." Natsu bit back the retort, 'it's not pink, my hair's salmon.' His eyes adjusted to the sudden shade and he studied the figures holding Lucy. The one holding her was a tall, lanky man wearing an old sweat stained t-shirt and raggedy jeans with a slight afro. The other, beside them, was a short fat man with a thick moustache and a suit and cane.

"You must be Dragneel. Terrible disguise, by the way." The short one commented. "Well, Damien just wanted to give you a message and it's waiting at the café." The lanky man practically tossed Lucy back and shoved his hands in his pockets. Lucy stumbled but Natsu helped steady herself. She pushed him away quickly though.

"Yeh, the little tot says dat some girl named... Lulu or sometin' gonna be comin to look fer it." 'Lulu' spun around to glare at the hoodlum. "Whatever. We were paid to tell you dat. I honestly don't care." The man shrugged and turned back. Before they could react, Natsu double punched them flying over the tops of the buildings, careful not to destroy or even singe the close-in walls around them.

Natsu turned around and grinned. "I got them for ya." Lucy chuckled.

"The guy said they left a note at a café? So we head to a restaurant? Which one?" Natsu couldn't figure out the puzzle.

Lucy thought for a moment, then her eyes widened. No. "I-I think I know what cafe he's talking about."

* * *

A few minutes later, the two were standing in front of a tiny cafe on the corner of a street. it was where Natsu and Lucy happened to cross paths for the first time. There were a small uproar of people and guards at the entrance, including camera flashes every so often. Natsu and Lucy pushed through the crowd.

"Excuse me, officer?" Lucy tapped a guard on the shoulder. He turned around scowling. "What happened here?"

"Somebody broke in and wrote a message for someone. Causes or the criminal are unknown." Natsu looked beyond the man. The window was broken, leaving glittering shards of glass on the ground. Inside, there was large, red, spray painted words directly facing outside.

I'M SURE YOU KNOW BY NOW. COME, FOLLOW US LUCY TO TRY AND SAVE YOUR HELPLESS DRAGON. FOLLOW LULLABY.

The guard passed them, trying to hold back the crowd. Lucy bit her lip, biting back tears, but felt someone tugging on her vest. She followed along limply.

"Lucy..." Natsu brought the girl away from the crowd, onyx eyes soft. He didn't like seeing girls crying, and the Celestial Spirit mage looked like she was about to. "Are you okay?" he didn't bother asking the significance behind the note left behind.

"Y-yeah." Lucy wiped tears from her eyes quickly, not wanting the Dragon Slayer to see them. Too late.

He pouted, but then stretched his mouth into his signature, full canine grin. "it's gonna be okay, right?"

"Ya." She felt slightly better seeing him smile. It reminded her of the better times. Plus, with the oversized sunglasses and clothes he looked really goofy. It made her want to laugh.

"So, I say we go back to following the smell and meet up with the rest, Aye?"

Lucy smiled. "No need. I already know where we're going."

* * *

After the group had got together, they got onto the train again to travel to the next town. Lucy and Natsu had gotten rid of the horrible disguises [not after Gray had snapped a picture,] and everyone [except Gray, for obvious reasons] was sitting on the train benches.

"So we're heading to Clover Town?" Erza asked in the next bench. Lucy, Natsu, Kura, Aiko and Happy were sitting in one section, Erza, Ren and an empty seat for Gray when he came back in the other one.

"Yep. The note at the restaurant said 'FOLLOW LULLABY.' Clover is where w— you defeated the Lullaby flute." Lucy waved her finger in the air, correcting her mistake.

"How do you know this?" The sick boy beside her looked up, raising his eyebrows.

"I read the newspaper." Lucy made up the lie nervously. Natsu didn't question her when his cheeks blew up. in his mind, he was thinking, _wow, that was like, nine years ago... _it was strange, very strange, that this girl remembered something like that.

Lucy looked over and giggled. "Um, Natsu?"

The slightly green man covered his stomach with his hand. "y-ya?"

"Do you want me to call out Virgo again?" she asked.

"Who's Virgo?"

She frowned, and then remembered that he didn't remember any of her spirits. "Virgo is a spirit of mine. She can knock you out painlessly."

"Yes! No more of this hell!" He raised his fist in victory, completely forgetting about the newspaper thing, and then Lucy called out her spirit and knocked him out. Natsu dropped like a marionette with its strings cut, falling off the bench. The Celestial mage giggled, hauling him up so he rested comfortably on her lap instead of the awkward position he had flailed into before.

"Punishment for knocking out your boyfriend, Princess?"

Lucy's mood turned sour. "No, Virgo. You can go now." The maiden disappeared in a flash of golden sparks with a final bow.

Kura looked over at her sympathetically. "You know, I think he still had affections for you, Lucy."

The blonde glanced at the Energy Dragon Slayer doubtfully. "Natsu has forgotten me and already has a girlfriend. He's loyal and liking-emotionally dense. It took him freakin three, technically nine, years for him to tell me out loud that he liked me. Plus I was next to dead." Her voice rose a little, spite sharpening her words. "If he 'has Lisanna' then he'll stay loyal to her."

Kura smiled sadly at her friend. "I know Natsu too, you know. But I noticed some things that might interest you. At your house, he called you 'Luce', not your regular name. He already had a nickname for you, even though you 'don't really know him.'" she made air-quotes with her fingers.

"Plus, on the train, I was awake and listening to your conversation last night." Lucy turned a furious shade of pink, slightly insulted that she eavesdropped. "After you fell asleep, you fell into Natsu's lap and he purposely turned his temperature up when you started shivering."

"And? So?" Lucy hmphed.

"Before he forgot you, whenever Natsu was around you he would purposely turn his temperature higher. Especially when you hugged him." Lucy didn't like the use of past tense.

"How do you know?"

Kura smiled. "Remember? Dragon Slayer; better senses. I can tell that he subconsciously does it even after he forgot." She looked down at the other Dragon Slayer on Lucy's lap. "For example, right now he can sense you near and is raising his body temperature because he subconsciously knows that his mate likes it."

Lucy frowned. "Mate?"

Kura turned a shade red. "Well, Dragon Slayers have a different way of perceiving dating and love. Dragon Slayers stay with the one they love for the rest of their lives. Don't ask me why or how, I just know. Ren was my soul-mate; I knew it even before I actually did. Dragon Slayers only have one mate for life."

"How do you know this? You only discovered you were a Dragon Slayer a month ago."

Kura shrugged. "I don't know. It just came to me," she flushed a tinge redder. "And uh... you kinda know your soul mate after the Dragon Slayer... marks the other person." Ren, in the next bench, pulled his sleeve a little higher. On his wrist was a small intricate purple-blue magic circle branded on his skin.

Lucy's eyes went wider, and Kura noticed her tiny mistake. "It didn't happen like that!" he blushed furiously this time. "We were holding hands and it just happened. Nothing like that."

"Natsu hasn't realized it yet, but I'm sure his... ah... instincts would have kicked in soon and then he would have known. Maybe he already knew but just waited for the right time to tell you. I don't know. I'm no expert."

Lucy looked out the window. "Well, since his memories of his 'mate' have changed, maybe as soon as we get back he'll go to mark Lisanna."

"I'd know who my proper mate was. Natsu will too, even if he hadn't marked you yet. Here, let's try something." Kura stood up and tugged on the blonde's sleeve. "Lucy, summon Gemini." She ordered.

Lucy frowned, but unclipped her spirits key from her belt. "Open, Gate of the Twins, Gemini!" two floating, dancing dolls poofed into the air.

"Hello, Kura" "and Master" "what" "may we" "do for" "you?" Gemi and Mini said in monotone. The Celestial Spirit mage looked at the Dragon Slayer.

"I'll exit the room, and Gemini will copy Ren. All scents, appearance, even speech pattern is the same. When I come back, I'll still be able to tell which one is Ren."

Lucy looked at her incredulously. "Fine, whatever." Kura left the room, and Ren stood up.

"You know, she's right. Natsu hasn't really forgotten you. He knows what's right." Lucy smiled tightly at him as her spirits touched his shoulder. With a _poof _another Ren was standing there, exactly the same in appearance.

"Hey. Are we ready?" Lucy went to knock on the door. It slid open, revealing Kura. She stepped inside and mussed her hair back to normalcy.

Without even looking up, she said, "to the left." Gemini poofed back to normal, proving the real Ren on her left side. He grinned and moved to hug her. Kura smiled and kissed him lightly. "See? Natsu will know who his real mate is."

"Just because of higher body temperature and a nickname doesn't mean that he likes me." Lucy didn't want to get her hopes up, because if they didn't get the antidote they would just break down. For now, she was pushing Natsu away, even though it killed her to do so. She turned around and walked back to her seat.

Kura smiled again. "He knows that you're most likely Lisanna, by the way." The girl spun around.

"When he woke up inside your house, and went back to his house to pack. He would be able to smell that Lisanna wouldn't have been there for several days and you did say he had a little past memorial in his house, didn't he? Damien's magic may change memories, but it doesn't change the past."

"So he kinda sorta knew the whole time?" Lucy ducked her head nervously, flushing red. Kura nodded.

A million thoughts were racing through her head. If he already knew, then was it safe to tell him? She didn't want to hurt either of their feelings, but maybe she was being selfish. It wasn't right to lie to her friend [she refused to call him her boyfriend once again, not to get her hopes up,] but problem was their relationship right now. It was teetering on safe and dangerous. Even though he just wanted to be friends, Lucy wasn't sure she could handle just that, but telling him that she was actually his girlfriend and that they'd been dating for more than a month now would just push him away.

"Lucy?" Kura asked. The girl snapped out of her miserable thoughts, looking up at Kura.

"Don't loose any sleep on it, 'kay? everything is gonna be alright."

Boy, she wished.

* * *

**... *grins evilly* mwahahaha... so, how do you all think? Is my writing good, bad, totally and so completely horrible that I should chop my fingers off so I can never type again? Lolz. Tell me what you think! I had fun writing this chapter, and I promise it's gonna get better. [you will drown in fluff soon!]**

**LifeIsWaiting: Nooblet? Really? I guess it's an interesting word. I like 'Fwapped' too! and this chapter points out your observation. I did it on purpose! tehehe. Thank you for reviewing! **

**Ahaurats-FT: I know! I'm being a bit of a Lucy sadist in this story. I decided to do it because I find Lucy never gets any of the pressure in other Fanfics. She never defeats the big boss, so I decided to put Natsu in a problem that he can't dig himself out of. I'm putting the spotlight on Lucy, you know what I mean? **

**and Dyeni: I don't hate Lisanna, I just don't like NaLi. Because NaLu and NaLi are the best running-up for Natsu couples, I decided to be a little evil and replace all of Natsu's memories of Lucy with Lisanna! make NaLu lovers rage a little, [but i'm officially a NaLu/LuNa fan.] **

**Review please! [Happy approves this message and will give you a fish if you review; Aye!] **


	7. Chapter 6

_Natsu woke up the next morning, noting first that nobody was on the train and that it had stopped moving. He got up quickly, looking for his friends. The shades were open and morning light poured through the train's windows. "_Happy? Erza? Gray? Kura, Ren, Aiko? Lucy?_" in fact, no one was on the train and it was spookily quiet. His voice even echoed a bit. Natsu raised his head and sniffed the air. The scents told him that nobody had been here forever. There was no dust but no people smell either._

_ "Who's Lucy?" Natsu stepped forward, investigating the new voice, suddenly cautious._

_ "_Hello_?" he noticed the figure sitting at the corner of his eye and spun around, nearly gasping when he realized who it was. The boy had pink hair, wore a black vest, and around his neck was a white-scaled scarf. His eyes were a little droopier and fizzled out though, distinguishing one from the other. _

_ It was himself. "_Whaddu mean, who's Lucy? She's my mate, girlfriend, soul-mate, whatever you want to call it._" Real Natsu frowned, guessing that this was a dream. _

_ "Lisanna's your mate." _

_ His jaw dropped, and he started laughing. "_Haha very funny, Me. No, Lucy is my mate. I was gonna tell her soon, but..._" thinking about it for a moment, Natsu thought that he shouldn't have any hesitations against telling _himself_ about his life, "_you know, I was waiting for the right time. I don't really know how she's gonna react to our... my... the Dragon Slayer way of doing things._" _

_ He sat down, across from the Other Natsu. "_I don't know, I was thinking about telling her on the date, but I kinda couldn't really... break the moment, you know_?" Other Natsu looked sour hearing this, "_but then..._" The real Fire Dragon Slayer blinked and frowned. _

_ "_That's funny. I can't remember. I guess I fell asleep after we walked home together._" _

_ "But it wasn't Lucy." The Other Natsu insisted. "That was Lisanna. We don't even know a Lucy." _

_ "_We don't?_" Natsu frowned, and his mind started to get foggy. _

_ "Lucy? What Lucy? You keep talking about a Lucy, but Lisanna's your girlfriend and mate. She always had been." Other Natsus words were like syrup, thick and sweet, muddling the Fire Dragon Slayer's mind up. _

_ "_No, Lucy's..._" he suddenly forgot. Who was Lucy?_

_ The train's walls started melting into goop, Other Natsu continuing talking as the liquefied walls drooped around him. Natsu started panicking, even in his haze. _

_ He struggled, but suddenly his arms and legs were glued to the seat; he couldn't move as the goop flooded around him. Natsu tried to flame himself but found he couldn't. He thrashed to keep his head over-water to breathe, but slowly, the walls closed around his face, covering him with Darkness, all while Other Natsu watched with a sly expression on his face. _

* * *

Natsu woke up again for real this time, gripping the seat so hard he thought it was going to snap off. He had a nightmare, but it was quickly fading into the recesses of his mind. Something about _walls_ and _girlfriends_.

Dreams were weird.

He fought back his twisting insides [as the train was still moving,] and looked around, now not nervous as he saw his friends around him. Kura had taken Aiko into her lap, leaving Happy a seat to himself, but the Energy Dragon Slayer and cat partner looked quite cute together sleeping like that. Lucy was beside him, and he realized that her head was on his shoulder, startling him slightly.

His mouth twitched into a smile, letting her use the crook on his neck, even though it was beginning to fall asleep again. He thought about his girlfriend.

Lisanna did save him from that attack. He had been scared shitless when his partner saved him, coming back as a pile of blood and broken bones, and for a moment, he couldn't believe it. He had gotten so angry that he threw Damien, the attacker, off the Clockwork Tower after beating him senseless. After that, he realized his affections for her, when he thought about a future without Lisanna. It was unthinkable. Meeting her back at Hargeon... maybe the Gods or whoever ran the world liked him that particular day.

But since he had woken up with Lucy in Lisanna's room... he got a headache whenever he thought about it. The house smelled completely like Lucy; the scent had even seeped into the walls and furniture, saying that she'd been there for a long time, and as he went into his house to pack he noticed the name 'Lucy' scrawled in messy print all over his mission memorial. Lisanna had been in the earlier job requests occasionally, but that was when he was, like, ten!

He tried piecing it together. Was Lucy his actual... mate? Sure he felt maybesortakinda warm and fuzzy around her, but that didn't mean he liked her, did it? And besides, it was clearly Lisanna that had been with him for [technically,] nine or so years. Of course, the job missions on the board back at his house said differently, and everyone in the guild had beat him up for 'playing a sick joke' on Lucy, even though he didn't know what was going on. He still didn't.

The funny thing was, when he sniffed the smoke still trapped in the orb that Damien had taken his memories with, it smelled like vanilla. Not Lisanna's scent.

It smelled like Lucy the split second before he started choking.

He shook his head. He was over-thinking things. He had affections for Lisanna, no one else. She was his mate, and he was sure in hell it wasn't Lucy.

Still something felt off.

* * *

"Lucy. Lucy." Natsu poked the sleeping girl's cheek.

"Luuuucyyy." He pouted. This girl DID NOT like to wake up in the mornings.

"LUCY!" This time, Natsu dodged the small fist flying towards his face, but Lucy snuggled into a tighter ball, grumbling groggily. It sounded fairly like, 'godamnit Nasu... ou woe ee up too earlee agin.'

"Lucy. I will tickle you, so help me, until you die from lack of oxygen!" Lucy's head popped out from between her kneecaps, glaring at him grumpily through her messy blonde hair.

"Oh no you wouldn't." Natsu had a flash of déjà-vu. Lisanna had said the _exact same thing _on the last mission they went on. He poked her sides though, making Lucy yelp but get up. She whacked him on the head.

"I'm gonna get changed." Lucy got her clothes and went to the bathroom.

Speaking of which, Natsu reminded himself that he had to too. Reaching up and feeling for his bag on the overhead, he grabbed the handle and pulled his travelling bag down. Grabbing his one-sleeved vest, he went to the other bathroom to change also.

Getting undressed, he pulled on another pair of cream-coloured trousers [exactly the same as the ones he was wearing,] and slipped his arms through the armholes. He did his buckle up, and then checked his first vest to see if there was anything in his pockets that wasn't washable. He'd had a habit of leaving unwashable things in there, and as soon as he washed it the vest would come back ruined.

_My armband! _He pulled it off of his old outfit and inspected it. The black leather was still smooth and comfortable, but what caught his eye was the design on it. It was a little red dragon curled around a star. Lisanna said it was because it would stand to remind him of her, but the problem was it didn't. He couldn't remember what she'd said the star connected herself to.

Something told him he didn't want to think on it too hard. Shrugging, he put the armband on and went outside. Lucy was bent over her bag, stuffing her old clothes back in her blue bag with a star print on it. Natsu ignored it purposely, moving to his own bag.

"So, what do we do in Clover?" Natsu asked the girl beside him.

Lucy shrugged. "Well, all we know is that Damien and Eric are laying out a trail for us to follow. We can't not follow them, because it's the only thing we have. Once the scent fades away, we'll be screwed."

"You're sure that they're not just doing a big turnaround?" he asked, careful not to finish that sentence. _To get back at Lisanna?_ He'd finally understood that Lucy had something against the Take Over mage. He was concerned for his girlfriend, but something was being restrained inside Lucy's eyes whenever he talked about her. Something he didn't want to meet.

Honestly, if half the anger was directed at Damien, he'd pity the poor man.

"No, they won't be." the words were slightly harsh, like she was holding back a snap.

Natsu wanted to try something, but he wasn't sure how'd she react or try to hide. "How would you know?" the question wasn't a demand, more like an enquiry for information.

"Damien and Eric will want to put on a show. It's in their nature. That's why they're placing this trail on purpose." She ducked her head slightly, which he saw from the corner of his eye.

"Didn't you notice that the messages that they're sending us were at places where Lisanna and I met?" He was walking a fine line now. "the guild and the cafe were the first places where we met. And Clover is where we went on an adventure to stop a dark guild."

Lucy stood up suddenly, voice raising a tiny octave. "Natsu, you told me this before. You and Lisanna went on lots of adventures together, blah blah blah. I'm just tagging along... with you guys because I'm in it for Damien." She winced like the words were difficult to say. Natsu watched with wide eyes as the Stellar Spirit mage stomped outside, the bag slung on her shoulder.

He pouted, but got his stuff packed and followed after her before the train could take off again and he'd be stuck on it. Natsu chased after the girl.

Natsu finally caught up with her, but wisely didn't make his presence known. Lucy knew though; firmly keeping her mouth shut. She felt like crying again, but she fought back the tears. _If I can fight Juvia and live in the Tower of Heaven then I can beat a couple drops of water._ Pushing Natsu away was harder than she thought, especially because she felt as if she could feel him half-way across the world if it came to it. She did sense him behind her, but no one chose to speak. They weaved through the crowd, and eventually emerged where the stream or people were thinner, where the team was waiting for them.

Erza registered the sour look on Lucy's face and Natsu's downcast expression. She was listening to the mating Dragon Slayer concept last night and wondered if it was true, if Natsu had a special bond with Lucy that couldn't be severed. The Dragon Slayer had seemed off for the last couple of days. More subdued than his normal rampaging-self. Plus, he was unnaturally close for someone who just met her, but she wasn't sure if that was just his friendly nature or something else.

"Let's go. I'm guessing that we go to where the guild's masters' building was," Lucy mumbled under her breath, heading towards it, still looking at the ground. Natsu followed behind her, a slightly hurt expression on his face.

Erza knew that Natsu acted the way his guild mates acted. He would cheer when they cheered, he would get angry when they got angry, he would cry when the whole guild cried. If this Mating bond was real, maybe the cord between them allowed them to exchange emotions even a little better. It made sense. Natsu sensed that Lucy wasn't feeling stable, and as her nakama went to help her. _But of course, he doesn't know he's the root of the problem, so they keep making it worse_, Erza judged.

Watching the two downcast, conflicted figures, the group continued to walk to the empty plain near Clover. "Wow. This place hasn't changed much in eight years." Gray said, looking around. It was a dry, earthy expanse of dirt and a small, bushy area to their left. The collapsed Guild-building [courtesy of Erza, Natsu, and Gray,] was all picked up now, leaving more earth.

"Well, this is boring." Aiko commented, looking around.

"You defeated Lullaby here eight years ago? Doesn't seem like it." Kura noted, making the three 'saviours' protest.

Lucy stepped forward. "Well, is their scent here or not?"

The Exceeds and Dragon Slayers lifted their heads to the air and sniffed. "Yes." Kura said. "We're catching up with them. They were here last night."

Suddenly, a giant Magic Circle opened up on the ground, scaring the crap outta Lucy, who was standing at the rim of it. She jumped back, unclipping one of her keys. "Open, Gate of the—" her voice was cut off as a giant roar bellowed from the magic circle, making gusts of wind that whipped Lucy's hair back wildly.

Something big and black started coming from the gray circle on the ground. The midnight-black goop, almost looking like thick oil, oozed. Finally, the circle stopped spinning and closed, leaving the group and the ooze standing there.

Gray nearly stepped forward, but Natsu extended his arm. "Don't. It's alive, evil, and from its smell, poisonous. Lucy," she turned round to look at him, not daring to move. "Slowly step back. You're the closest one to it."

Lucy was about to move her foot but the thing impossibly hissed, scaring the girl. It swamped towards her slowly. Her hand reached for her keys again. "Ope—" the thing hissed.

It was telling her, "No, do not move, do not speak, and do not use magic." She didn't know what would happen if it touched her, but Natsu said it was poisonous, didn't he? Her foot moved back.

The thing quivered, looking like it was about to burst in its anger. The goop started forming itself higher, then wider, and started to form rough figures. She blinked.

Parts or it started sinking in or pushing out, forming curves, domes, or points. Everything started black, but colour began to leach into it. First pink and white came in, then black and blue, then cream and navy. Everyone gasped.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried. He was standing next to Damien, with a cocky, unNatsuish grin on his face, hands crossed against his chest. The older man, with slick, pulled back hair, had a smug smile on.

"See? I win, Lucy Heartfilia." The girl fell to her knees. Damien started changing, into someone with bigger curves, was smaller, with silvery-white hair. The girl smirked at the other, taking Natsu's arm. The Dragon Slayer gave her the wolfish smile again, took Lisanna [by the ass!] and kissed her ferociously.

Lucy broke. Screaming, she bought out a key, slashing it in the air. A large swath of golden energy cut through the making out Natsu-Lisanna, turning them into goop once more. The thing shuddered, then shrunk until it disappeared from existence. Lucy was breathing heavily and crying, sobbing into her knees.

"What did you see?" Kura asked, jostling her shoulder. She looked up.

"Damien and Natsu, and then Damien turned into Lisanna and then Natsu—" she screamed into her knees again, unable to swallow her sobs.

"Lucy? That was a Bogart. It takes form of whatever weighs most heavily on the victim's mind at that moment. I understand how you feel." Lucy sniffled, still crying but looking up. Kura's eyes had tears in them too.

"Usually to defeat a Bogart you have to think of a happy memory, and then it'll change to that, but what you did worked too." Kura answered the question she was about to ask. "I saw Master. Dying at my feet again. He said that I killed him, over and over..." the female mage shook her head. "But then I thought of Ren, and the Bogart changed to him. Then I cut it with my sword."

Lucy smiled tightly, and the Energy Dragon Slayer passed her a tissue packed into her pocket. "You look like a mess." She told her. The Celestial Spirit mage nodded in approval. Her hair was probably a mess and her eyes were definitely red.

Erza bent over Lucy as she blew her nose. "I saw Jellal. I know what pain you're going through." She left without a word. All the Fairies seemed shell-shocked, pale and sweaty, as they regrouped. Even the Exceeds seemed scared. Lucy noticed where the Bogart disappeared there was something left on the ground. It was yet another note, written in the same neat handwriting.

Opening it, she winced as she read the first word. This note was much longer than the first two.

FOLLOW THE KONZERN. I KNOW WHAT YOU WILL HAVE SEEN, LUCY. THE TERROR OF SEEING YOUR WORST FEAR COME TO LIFE... DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY THINK, I HAVE EXPERIENCED IT. AND EITHER WAY, WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW IS THAT THE CLOCK IS TICKING. YOUR PRECIOUS SKY DRAGON SLAYER WAS WRONG. THE BABIES ARE SLOWLY SPREADING AND TAKING OVER HIS MIND, NOT JUST FILLING THE GAPS. SOON HE WILL BE OURS.

The card dropped to the floor.

Everyone sent sharp looks as Lucy collapsed to the ground. She had fallen into a dead faint. They surrounded the girl and the scarlet Knight picked the note card up. Erza and Gray read it first, then they handed it to Team Kura, but at the last moment, Kura hesitated giving it to Natsu and instead vaporized it to a crisp between her fingers. The Fire Dragon Slayer cried out.

"What was on the note!" he demanded, snapping. Nobody answered.

He tugged on his hair furiously, the temperature raising. "What aren't you telling me, godamnit! I'm sick and tired of hiding these secrets! I know Lucy's Lisanna, I read my mission board and I have better senses and I'm not stupid! I know that you guys are hiding secrets from me about Lucy!" Natsu stomped away, growling to himself. What nobody except Kura heard was, "I just don't know how to deal with it."

The other Dragon Slayer pressed her lips together. "I'll carry her." Gray offered, picking the collapsed Celestial Spirit mage, bridal style.

"It said follow the konzern. What's the konzern?" Kura asked.

Erza shrugged. "Well, Damien's targeting important places for Natsu and Lucy. Lucy's unconscious and Natsu's—" she perked up. "The Heartfilia mansion. Where Lucy went to live before she ran away. Lucy went back and we had to chase her." the group started walking back to the train station.

"shouldn't we bring Natsu?" Aiko looked behind her, pouting, where the pink-haired boy had his legs tucked in and face hidden in his scarf. He was a little ball sitting upright on the dirt.

"I'm sure once he's finished thinking he'll come back." Erza pressed her lips together. _Was it their shared bond that was bringing him down, or was it the false memories? _ If what Damien said was true, Natsu could change. Erza tried to mentally pair Eric, Damien, and Natsu together. She didn't see it. She knew the Dragon Slayer to be loyal, and he had a theoretical backbone. He wouldn't betray his nakama for someone who was a villain.

There was the FDC device, but even he broke out of that eventually. [**A.N. For all of you who didn't read Four Magics, the FDC device allowed Damien to control people. It was destroyed by Natsu in their fight.**] well, she was just gonna have to keep a closer eye on him.

* * *

Natsu buried his face into his scarf, muttering every not-so-insulting insults he could ever think of towards him nakama. They were supposed to be a family with no secrets, and now the whole guild was lying to him. He felt flashes of anger and slight betrayal.

It wasn't the only thing bothering him. With his super-sonic hearing he heard was Lucy had said on the ground. The scariest thing for her was for him and Lisanna be together. He didn't know why, but he had started to get ideas.

Why everyone was acting edgy around him and Lucy. Why the scent of Lisanna wasn't in her own house, but the Celestial Mage's was. Why Lucy's names were scrawled on the missions board. Why Lisanna was trying to pull her hand out of his. Why the Celestial mage cried when he 'first' saw her. Why Lucy's biggest fear was the youngest Take-Over sibling and him dating.

Lisanna never dated him. It was Lucy.

He instantly felt bad. "Was that why..?" he must have been giving her a lot of pain if she was holding it in like that. He pouted.

_ No, Lisanna's you mate! She always has and always will be!_

He ignored the little voice, but it came back, harder this time, making him cringe. He started to get a headache. _Lucy's a weird, stupid blonde. Lisanna's a smart, talented mage!_ He frowned. His mental voice was insulting one of his guild members, girlfriend or not.

_Hey, could you shut up? Lucy may or may not be my mate, but you're insulting one of our guild members. _Natsu silently started an argument over it.

_Lucy may be one of our guild members, sure, but why are you saying she's your mate? Dragons only have one mate in their lives, and you already have Lisanna. There's no room for three on this boat, Dragon Slayer. _The voice protested.

_But Igneel said—_

_ Forget what that old geezer said! Lisanna is your mate, and that's final._

_ But-_

_ There are no buts in mati-_

_Igneel said that you aren't supposed to have doubts!_ Natsu roared. The voice quieted down.

It hesitated. _Do you have any doubts about Lisanna? And if you think Lucy's your mate, why do you think that? The first time you met her she cried, and the second she kicked you on the crotch._ The voice reminded him.

_I—_... he stopped_. I don't have doubts... it's just..._ he fisted his pink hair furiously. _Arg! Lisanna's always been better with words than I have! I'm trying to say I not... settled in yet. And Lucy... _He didn't have an answer to that.

The voice mentally facepalmed. _Well, whatever. Just don't go for the blonde chick, she gives us the creeps. _

_ No she doesn't! _Natsu tried to say, but the headache left.

"Natsu~" the named boy looked beside him as he noticed his favourite blue cat next to him, snapping him out of his stupor. His eyes were big. "Are you okay?" Happy asked. Natsu rubbed his head.

"Y-yeah. Just a little mad." he admitted to the Exceed. The little neko pouted, then Natsu stretched his legs out so Happy could sit on his lap.

"I know you know we're lying to you. I don't like lying to you, Natsu." The Dragon Slayer looked down at his Exceed, the one he'd hatched himself with Lisanna, and raised on his own. He was like a father to the little cat.

Another doubt came to him. "Hey, Happy?" the named cat looked up, "Was it Lisanna or Lucy who hatched you as an egg?" he wasn't sure at this point, so confused, not knowing what or who really happened to him.

"Lisanna." The cat felt comfortable enough telling his friend that.

"Who was it I met at Hargeon?"

"L-Lisanna." Natsu visibly turned down. _Happy had hesitated_.

"Lucy, right?" Happy nodded sadly, bursting into tears. "I'm s-sorry Na-Natsu! I know... that it seems I-Im-Impossible, but you w-were dating Lucy and you were so h-happy, and then you forgot and Lucy told me to lie... lie to you be-because she thought it was for the b-b-best!" Natsu stroked the little cat's fur. "But I h-hate lying to you because it make you angry and Lucy's angry and everyone's sad and—!" he hiccupped himself out of words.

"Don't worry Happy. It's gonna be okay. I don't blame you, or Lucy, she thought it was for the best, or anyone except Damien." Natsu tried to smile. He picked the Exceed up in his arms like a baby and started walking to the train station.

He didn't know how to feel about this.

* * *

**O.O So, how do you guys think? Getting better? I think im outta witty replies so i'm just gonna skip to the review replies [y.] **

**to LifeIsWaiting; HERE IT IS!**

**...wow. this is like, the worst A.N. so far.**

**... Review! -_-'**


	8. Chapter 7

The group boarded the train, and Natsu didn't have any time to think about his problems once it started moving. He held his stomach, groaning, as the train tracks had a slight bump on it, making the automobile rattle as it passed by. He opened the window and panted.

Wisely, he sat away from Lucy so he didn't feel so conflicted about everything, even though all his thoughts were propelled towards not puking all over Erza's boots. That would be bad. He sat with Gray, Erza, and the two Exceeds sharing a seat together. Lucy, Ren, and Kura sat in the other four-bench.

Kura seemed to be acting funny too. She shifted in her seat a lot, and even asked if she could exchange seats with Ren, so she could sit next to an open window. Lucy noted she looked a little green.

The look on the Energy _Dragon Slayer's_ face was so remarkably similar that it immediately clicked for the Celestial Spirit mage. She giggled. "Kura, are you feeling so good?" she chuckled.

Kura shakily opened her mouth, but then the train let out a shaky bump and she inhaled. "Nope!" she squeaked.

"Now we have two sick Dragon Slayers on this trip!" she exclaimed in false cheeriness. Kura didn't even have enough energy to complain. Her stomach twisted into a pitiful knot, and she groaned.

She'd never exactly wanted to be a Dragon Slayer. This was one of the reasons why.

* * *

It was a six hour ride, but finally, the train rumbled to a stop. Natsu and Kura jumped off as soon as they could, panting slightly. Moments later, they felt fine. Better than fine, but both were hungry.

"Erza? Do you have something to eat in your wagon?" Kura asked behind her. The Knight shuffled through her enormously large 'suitcase' and tossed a chip-bag to them both. Natsu scarfed it down in about five-seconds, but Kura ate slower. Not by much, but still.

Lucy looked up. it was her old mansion, alright. It was a large, uninhabited white building with a extravagant entrance with colourful flowers and trees. Well, Lucy remembered them colourful, but with years of neglect plants began to wither and fade.

The windows were dark, but the group walked down the smooth path, looking around them. "I bet this place looked quite nice, Lucy." Ren commented.

"It's even better on the inside." Lucy told him. "but I'm actually not sure why all the windows are dark. My Father said the company was bought out by the Junelle Corporation." At her words, one of the lights popped open. Everyone looked at the figure inside peered out the window. A second later, there was a high pitched squeal.

Everyone flinched. The figure disappeared, and all the lights turned on in the mansion. The door opened, and a short, squat figure came out. The woman practically jumped on Lucy, hugging her tightly along her midriff. "Ms. Spetto!" Lucy cried out. The poor woman was crying tears of joy.

"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy! I haven't seen you for so long! When the maids heard you disappeared on Tenrou Island we were all so worried, and then you came back and we were so happy, but your father died and we couldn't get time to see you~!" The woman was quite boxy, wearing a black-and-white maid costume, adorning a little cap over her dark purple, tied down hair. She had black eyes and she looked older than Lucy remembered, but then again, she hadn't seen Ms. Spetto in seven years.

"Where's everyone else, Ms. Spetto?" The woman stopped crying.

"Well, I was the only one re-hired. Everyone else is gone. I stay here to make sure that the mansion doesn't get old or dirty when Mr. Junelle is gone on business trips. I also take care of his daughter."

Lucy smiled. She was still such a kind lady. "Um, Ms. Spetto? May we ask you a favour? We're looking for... something, and we believe it to be somewhere in this mansion."

The squat lady backed up. "Oh, yes, yes! I would be more than happy to let you inside! I'm sure Mr. Junelle won't mind if I let an old friend of mine!"

Lucy perked up. "Oh, I forgot to introduce you to my friends. This is Natsu, Happy, Erza, and Gray. They chased after me the last time I was here, I'm not sure if you remember them." The Celestial mage pointed to each as she named them. Ms. Spetto nodded. "And this is Kura, Aiko, and Ren."

"It is so nice to meet you all! Now come inside. I'll let you search the mansion as much as you need as I go make some tea." Lucy raised her arms up to say we don't need it, but the lady shook her head. "It would be rude." She simply said, leading them into the grand entrance.

Not much had changed, the room was still polished and cleaned to a sparkling finish, but the furniture was slightly different. Lucy knew this was a small fraction of the mansion and she felt a burst of pride and pity that Ms. Spetto had to clean the whole mansion practically by herself.

"Nana, Nana!" suddenly, a small girl ran up to the lady, crying, and jumped forward to sob into Ms Spetto's maid outfit. She was maybe three or four, wearing a purple nightgown and had brown hair tied up in pigtails.

"Oh Julia! You're awake! What happened sweetie?" the maid patted the little girls head. Julia lifted it and looked up with wide, wet blue eyes.

"I had a bad dweam... it was scary..." she wailed, then noticed the group of mages behind her. she jumped behind Ms. Spetto in fright, hugging her backside.

The woman chuckled. "No need to be afraid Julia. This is Lucy Heartfilia and her friends. They're just visiting the mansion for a bit." The little girl perked up.

"The Lucy you used to work for? The Celwestiaul mage?" she couldn't pronounce the long word correctly, but Lucy recognized it. the 'Celwestiaul' mage bent down to look at the girl, putting on a smile.

"Hey Julia." She said in a slow, calm tone, outstretching her hand. "my name's Lucy. Yes, I'm a Celestial mage." Hesitantly, Julia met the blonde's hand and shook it.

"I heard you have a Spirit named Leo, and he's the most powerful of the Ze... Zo... Zodiac. Could I see him? I wanna be a Celestial—" she pronounced it right this time, "—mage too when I grow up." the cheeky girl smiled, showing that she didn't have all her teeth. For a second, Lucy thought of Natsu.

Ms. Spetto tutted. "Julia! I thought we taught you better manners then that." Lucy smiled.

"Don't worry about it, Ms. Spetto. What about I'll summon Leo and he can go play with Julia for a bit? I'm sure he won't mind." Ms. Spetto shrugged then nodded.

The Celestial mage unclipped the key from her belt. "Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo." A little magic drained out from her and Leo appeared in the air. He bowed to Julia.

"Hello, little princess." the little girl squealed, then took his hand and dragged him off somewhere. Leo sent a flashy grin behind him as he was pulled off, thinking, _Damn, this girl has a tough grip_.

Lucy smiled as he disappeared around the corner with Julia. Ms Spetto shook her head. "Are you sure you're fine with this? I thought you could only keep a Golden Gate open for a few minutes."

Lucy smiled. "My magic power had raised in these couple of years. I'll be fine. Now, about that thing we have to find..." Ms. Spetto nodded and announced that they could go anywhere in the mansion except Mr. Junelle's room. Lucy didn't notice Natsu's jaw dropped expression.

* * *

Three hours later, the group reformed at the entrance again. "Has anyone found anything?" Kura asked.

Everybody shook their heads. They searched every room thoroughly, Lucy even tried the little nooks and crannies that nobody would be able to find, the Exceeds had done an Aerial search, but still they didn't find anything. Lucy was especially exhausted from keeping Leo's Gate open

Lucy pouted. "Damien said that the next note would be somewhere in the Heartfilia Konzern." Ms Spetto suddenly called out from the kitchen.

"I'm sure you are all hungry. Come into the kitchen, I will bring you snacks." The group, too tired to argue, went into the kitchen, where Leo, Ms. Spetto, and Julia were sitting.

Natsu cried out for some reason. "Loke!" everyone looked at him. "There you are! I've been searching the whole mansion for you and Julia!" the Spirit looked over at him with a confused expression.

"What?"

"Where the hel—" the Dragon Slayer stopped himself from swearing in front of Julia, "—where have you been! We thought you were dead!"

"What?" the Lion Spirit seemed very confused.

"You died on a mission one day, you never came back! And now you're here and one of Lucy's Spirits? W-T-F?" he said, refraining from swearing.

It clicked for Lucy. "oh..." she put a hand on Leo's key subtly and transmitted what happened over to Leo. He blinked and glanced at her with a sorry expression on his face.

"I didn't die. It's a... long story. I was uh... a Celestial Spirit all along, but a had a curse on me that refrained from me going back to the Spirit World and... Finally it was lifted but I couldn't come back on free will unless my Master called me." it was a better lie than Lucy was holding, she had to admit. Even though the Dragon Slayer was dense and it didn't take a too-strong lie to convince him, he wasn't a complete idiot.

Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but Ms. Spetto, noticing conflict was about to erupt, interrupted. "So, I'll bring out the food." The lady placed dozens of types of food out in seconds, and Natsu's attention was directed to the steaming-hot plates. Lucy got out the box of matches she kept in her pockets and tossed them to Natsu, who was sitting next to Julia.

"Sweet. Thanks." He lit a match on fire and tossed it into the closet dish, impatiently waiting for it to catch before ripping the poor chicken to pieces. Ms. Spetto seemed quite shocked.

"Natsu!" Lucy snapped. "At least eat so flaming food doesn't fly everywhere!" she turned to the maid. "I'm sorry for my friend's rude behaviour. He eats like a pig sometimes."

"And the... uh, fire?" Ms. Spetto asked unsurely.

"Oh, that's because he's a Fire Dragon Slayer. He... does that."

She smiled. "Some very interesting friends you have here," she said, looking over at her partners. "What a wise, beautiful woman you've grown up to be, Lucy Heartfilia." The girl blushed at her words. "Your mother would be proud." Lucy smiled slightly.

"And don't worry, Julia eats like that too. I'm used to it." Lucy's gaze found itself on the little girl and Dragon Slayer. Their movements were almost identical; eat, pause, find another plate, scarf down, swallow... Lucy laughed, even though around the two there was food flying everywhere. Leo had taken his leave, giving one final bow to Lucy and Ms. Spetto.

"So, have you found this object you're looking for?" The Maid asked. Everyone's expression, except Natsu and Julia's, turned downcast.

"It should be in the form of a letter or note... but no, we haven't found anything." Ms. Spetto's eyes widened and she turned a slight blushing red colour.

"Oh! Um... a letter came in for you, Ms. Heartfilia. Some little boy came in and told me to give it to you." Everyone stopped eating and looked up in alarm at the maid.

"Uh, did you see this boy's face?" Lucy asked, voice rising slightly.

"Yes, yes! He was a little, maybe nine years old. Bleach blond with strange pink eyes. He was wearing a cloak, but under it was... a blue t-shirt with a pair on wings ironed onto them. He handed me an envelope and said, 'Please give this to Lucy Heartfilia as soon as she stops by.'" The maid left in a rush to go get this letter.

Eventually she came back and Lucy took the note, everyone standing around her. Her fingers almost twitching, she took the large, orange envelope and peeled it open. There was a sheet of paper inside, and a small box clattered to the floor.

WE'LL SEE YOU THERE. Was all it said. Lucy flipped it over. On the other side was a poster.

"Aceto and Velvento's seven year wizard's ball! Come all wizards?" Lucy read. "Isn't that the ball we went to seven years ago?" she waited for an answer, but no one answered the partially-rhetorical question, "They must be having another one... in two days. We're going to see Damien and Eric there?"

Erza picked up the tiny box that fell out of the envelope. It was a dark, navy blue cube. It had a flip-top that was held shut with a lighter blue clasp. "Do we open it?" Erza peered at it warily.

"It could contain another Bogart." Kura said, shuddering. Everyone agreed. Natsu took the envelope and shook it again harder; a tiny piece of paper came from it. He picked it up.

"The... con... contents of... thi-this... bos... box are not... dan... danger... dangerous?" he read, having difficulty. Lucy took the note from him and read it.

"The contents of this box are not dangerous... and he expects us to believe them?" she laughed.

"Well, we need to find out what's in it anyway. What about one of us opens it away from the mansion?" Gray pointed out. Nobody disagreed; even though they didn't like it, their curiosities were spiking.

* * *

A few minutes later, the group was standing a distance away from the Heartfilia Konzern. They left Julia and Ms. Spetto outside, in case the contents of the box was anything dangerous and made the mansion explode or someone get hurt.

"I'll open it." Lucy announced.

Kura pouted. "Lucy, you've gone through enough. We don't need you attacked by another Bogart. I'll open it."

Ren shook his head. "I'm the only non-mage here. I'm not the most important one. Let me."

Aiko frowned. "No, I'm an Exceed. I can fly away if there's trouble. I'll open it."

"No, let me do it, Aiko." Happy said.

"If it's sudden then you won't have enough time to fly away Happy." Gray pointed out. "I'll open the box."

Natsu snorted. "a small-fry like you won't do it IcePick. We need a nice, strong man to protect himself." Gray spun around to start another fight with the Dragon Slayer, teeth grinding together with the temperature dropping several degrees.

"SHUT UP!" Erza flashed a sword into her hand and swung it at the boys, blade pointing at their throats. The two male mages went still, twitching slightly and creating pools of nervous sweat on the ground. "Lucy, pass me the box." The scarlet commanded.

"A-Aye!" The girl handed it over to the Knight, not wanting to get hurt.

"_I_ will be the one opening the box because _I_ am not crucial to this mission. The Dragon Slayers are our scenters, the Exceeds are flyers, Ren possibly might not be able to defend himself, and Lucy is the one at the root of the problem. Is that clear?"

Everyone 'Aye'-ed half-heartedly, but Gray raised his hand hesitantly. Titania gave him a sharp stare. "Yes?"

"Um, what about me? How am I crucial to this mission?"

Erza smiled. "Would you like to open it Gray? Either of us can, because we're just backup." Gray's eyes went round. A few seconds later, he was tucked into a ball on the ground, hiding his face behind his legs pulled up. Everyone sweatdropped, except Natsu howling in the background. Lucy hit him hard on the head.

"Hey, if it wasn't for you being a Dragon Slayer you would be in Gray's position right now." she snapped.

"Ya ya, whatever." A vein popped in Lucy's forehead and Erza handed her a mallet. _Wha-donk!_

"AH-OW!" Natsu cried, holding his head and crying next to Gray. Lucy smirked.

"Serves you right."

Erza looked back at her friends. "I'll be going now. Keep your guard up." Everyone nodded. The Knight took a breath. Even she was nervous for the possible horrors contained in this box. She placed an armoured hand on the blue lid. It seemed to pulse threateningly underneath her fingers. Erza hesitated. As far as she knew, this box held a giant Death Spell that would kill everyone within a forty-kilometer radius as she opened it. She bit her lip, but kept her hand on the lid. _Even though Damien's a cheater, he wouldn't make us go on this hunt if he didn't plan for us to continue it. He said we would meet at Aceto's party, but when can we trust his word?_ She took in another deep breath. Before she ran herself mad thinking of these things, she thrust the box as far as she could away from her, closed her eyes, and opened the box.

...

...

...

A light appeared in the depths of the cube. The Knight's eyes widened and she threw it as hard as she could away from the mansion.

BOOM! Erza was thrown back, luckily requipping into her Adamantine Armour a second before the explosion rocked the ground. She grit her teeth again the force of it, pieces of debris dug into her skin. Her partners behind her were on the ground, knowing when to drop for cover. Finally the light faded and everything stopped shaking. Erza unhooked the shields on her arms and carefully peered outside. Everything was quiet.

She changed into her Black Wing Armour, protection and fast getaway clothing. She didn't dare breathe, but stepped forward hesitantly to where she threw the box. Eye half-closed, she peered into the bushed where it landed. Nothing jumped out at her, so she carefully nudged the hedge away...

To show clothing. Very elegant dresses and handsome tuxedo's, in various colours, lying in a heap on the ground. Erza looked around suspiciously, bent down, and grabbed a purple dress.

It was a long, stylish, violet halter top with a plunging neckline. The bottom was ruffled slightly to the side, slightly darker than the rest of the dress. Erza eyed the card attached to it. Opening it slowly, it read "KURA," in Damien's slightly curvy handwriting.

Another card, not attached to the clothing, fell to the ground. The Knight narrowed her eyes and snatched it up.

HA HA. I BET THAT EXPLOSION SCARED YOU, TITANIA. SEE YOU THERE. The Scarlet hesitated.

She was beyond angry. Erza crushed the note in her hand, threw it to the ground, and howled.

"DAMN YOU DAMIEN AND ERIC!"

* * *

**So, i'm sorry i'm a bit late, but I went over to a friends house and there was no internet there. so, I couldn't post. I just got back, read the newest FT manga chapters (oh my ^#*! lord. I pity all you Anime watchers.)and posted! yay for my pathetic attempts at humour!... **

**Well, either way, to my reviewers for chapter 6! **

**Dyeni: Thank you for reviewing so much! I love getting reviews from frequent reviewers... makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. and remember, Natsu's also fighting for what he thinks is right and himself at the same time. mwahahaha! let me give you a cliffy and make you all suffer! **

**and LifeIsWaiting: the Bogart isn't just a Harry Potter creature, it's actually taken from a myth, as a creature that shapes itself into the victims worst fear. SCARY. BUT, I love reading H.P. books, i'll admit. thanks for reviewing so much! I almost pity giving you so many cliffhangers! [that's a lie. call me a sadist. hehehe.] **

**Review, maybe? they are my fuel to typing faster! -Pikaskye**


	9. Chapter 8

The group went back into the mansion holding bundles of clothes, Erza seething over being tricked. There was a silent tension around the group. Ms. Spetto opened the door with a confused expression on her face, looking at the mages with dresses and tuxedo's slung over their shoulders and the slightly emotionless faces. They dumped everything into a pile in the entrance.

Everyone was silent for a moment, standing around the pile of clothes. "So will we have to wear them or not?"

Nobody gave an answer until Erza spoke up. "Well have to check carefully for binding or tracking spells first." she was grinding her teeth together and her fists were clenched. Never trick Erza. That was the rule that everyone learned when she first met her.

Ms. Spetto pressed her lips together. "Um, there's a call from your guild waiting for you, Lucy. they just called as you left." The blonde perked up. "In the study." The group followed Lucy's quick pace down a hallway or two then opened the door to the study. It was a room run with books and shelves, nearly covering all of the dark blue walls. There was a desk with an inkpot on top, a comfy chair beside it, and another smaller table with a clear orb sitting on a stand.

Lucy and the others rushed up to the communication lacryima. The blonde pressed the button and a dozen faces peered through the ball, including a dozen raised voices. "Hey Team Natsu and Team Kura, how's it going!" they all cried at the same time. Lucy smiled. There were the Strauss siblings Lisanna, MiraJane and Elfman, a slightly tipsy Cana, Wakaba and Macao, Romeo and Wendy standing next to each other waving, and her best friends Levy, Juvia and Charle. Everyone was smiling.

"Hey guys!" The group replied simultaneously. The people inside the orb quieted down and moved further out of the line of vision so Master Makarov could peer at the group.

"How's the mission going?" he asked gruffly.

"Good. We are getting closer to Damien and Eric every day." Erza explained to him what had happened since then, leaving out certain details so Natsu wouldn't hear. Master sent a knowing glance at him.

"That's good to hear. So you'll all be going to Aceto's ball in two days?"

"Aye!" Happy cried.

"They said we would see them there, so they must be waiting for us." The Knight said. "but we will be careful and follow their smell too in case they try and trick us."

Lucy butted in. "I'm sorry, but Master, how did you guys know where to send the call?" Makarov's face darkened.

"We got mail from these villains too. A man underneath a spell stumbled in the guild, handed the note to Mira, and then collapsed on the floor. He woke up minutes later and said he didn't know how he'd gotten there. He lived in a nearby village, took a nap, and suddenly woke up here, at the Guild." Everyone's eyes widened.

"Would it be the FDC device?" Kura asked, knowing that Lucy couldn't open her mouth on this case. Everyone looked at Natsu, or shifted their eyes off of the Celestial Spirit mage on the other end of the line. Natsu'd had the most experience with the FDC, along with Lucy, since he was the one controlled by it for a short period of time before it was destroyed.

"This man didn't remember how he'd gotten there? Then I'd say no, he wasn't controlled. I remembered everything, like how I'd hurt Lis—...Lisanna." Everybody noted the crack in his usually strong voice but no one made a move on it.

"Then it must have been a hypnotizing spell." Master mused. "But anyway, we knew you were here because..." he looked behind him. "Someone get me the note." Mira ran off and returned seconds later, handing it to the short man.

"HELLO FAIRIES," Makarov read. "HOW ARE YOU? I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE PRECIOUS PAPER ON FORMALITIES. YOUR GROUP WILL BE AT THE HEARTFILIA MANSION BY THE TIME YOU GET THIS NOTE. HAVE SOME CHAT TIME WITH THEM. THEY HAVE ALREADY DISCOVERED MORE DARK SECRETS ABOUT EACH OTHER AND THEIR GROUP IS READY TO TEAR APART. FROM, DAMIEN AND ERIC." He stopped reading, looking up at the tense Fairies. Silence filled the air.

"Could I talk to Lisanna? I haven't seen her in awhile." Natsu asked slowly, breaking the silence. Everyone held their breaths as the Take-Over mage pushed through the crowd. Natsu smiled, but it quickly turned into a pout.

"Alone?" he narrowed his eyes through the orb and then turned to look at his companions. They backed off. The group exited the room quietly.

* * *

"Lucy, it's okay." Kura rubbed the blonde's back. The Stellar Spirit was hiccupping, trying to keep the tears out of sight but failing miserably. Once she'd judged herself far enough from Natsu's good hearing she burst into a dash, trying to get as far away from the study room as she could. She didn't know Kura had followed her to where her mother's gave once was, sitting in plain sight but where she thought nobody would find her.

Kura had looked down at the crying girl, curled up into a ball on the side of a path. She had pushed her limp body up and let her hiccup and snot all over her vest, patting and rubbing her back. At first, Lucy held back the tears, but eventually she had just given up trying to push Kura out of the way and burst into a wet mess.

Erza and Aiko found the two and sat down next to them, the Knight picking up Lucy with her bare hands and placing her into her lap. Aiko flew over their shoulders. Erza hugged the girl tightly and put her head resting on Lucy's shoulder, and the poor girl clutched on like the Knight was a lifeline. They didn't speak, but knew that they would be there for one another and help Lucy through these sad, sad times.

* * *

Somebody closed the girl behind him, leaving the study empty except him and Lisanna. He spoke up first. "Hey Lisanna! I miss you." he smiled, glad that he saw her face again. It'd be even better if he saw it in real life, but this would have to do.

The Take-Over mage let out a slight, shaky smile. "Yeah. I— uh... miss you too." Natsu instantly targeted the tense note in her voice and asked her about it.

"Hey, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?" He was instantly concerned. Lisanna was always cheery and an optimist. The tone in her voice wasn't saying that now.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Natsu didn't believe her.

"No, seriously, what's going on over there? Did somebody make you upset?" Natsu scowled, imagining running over there as fast as he could so he could snap their heads off. Anyone who made his guildmates upset would get a good beating. Anyone who made his girlfriend upset would be killed.

"No, no!" Lisanna breathed deeply. "T-there's just... something I gotta tell you."

He blinked. "Yeah?"

Lisanna took in a breath. "Natsu..."

"Mmm hmm?" the Dragon Slayer smiled.

"I'm... breaking up with you." Natsu didn't get it the first second.

"wha-... what?" His voice cracked. The beautiful Take-Over mage shook her head as she reached down and pressed the off button. The orb turned clear again, the connection broken. he stared at it for a few seconds.

He couldn't speak, he couldn't even breathe. His throat closed up and his lungs shriveled. There was an empty hole in his chest, feeling like he was shot in the heart. He clutched onto his scarf, fingers clenching at the scaly material, wide-eyed as he felt the pain in his chest.

Natsu knew there was a word for it. Heartbreak. He'd never expected it to happen to him. Heck, he'd never thought he'd get a girlfriend. A mate that caused him enough pain to last him a lifetime. Take fighting Hades, no, take eating _Etherion_ and times it by a hundred. That's what it felt like, that gaping hole in his chest. Add a billion-hour train-ride or two. He'd never experienced such pain.

He felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. Before he collapsed, he rushed to the window, opened it, and jumped, landing on his feet and running for the hills.

Natsu vowed would never trust his heart to anyone again.

* * *

Lisanna cut the connection quickly. Taking in a deep breath, she leaned back on the counter for support. Everyone, watching from a distance, was quiet. Mira went to help her little sister, who found tears forming in her eyes even though everything was fake.

She knew she'd had to do it eventually. She couldn't watch the pained expression on Lucy's face if she continued. Sure, she'd had a crush on the Fire Dragon Slayer when she was younger, but once she returned from Edolas she'd found that Natsu had found a new female partner. The crush quickly faded, seeing those two.

Everyone knew they were perfect for one another except them. When Lucy came back from the first mission with Damien, bandaged and casted thoroughly, but came back alive with Team Natsu and Kura, Aiko and Ren, and then shortly started dating Natsu; it wasn't a surprise. Everyone knew it was going to happen sooner or later, they possibly just needed a push before the two started going for the other.

Of course, finding out Lisanna was 'dating' Natsu was a surprise.

_"We know. Damien is somehow alive and took Natsus memories. But we'll find the antidote." Erza, beside Lisanna waiting outside the stall Lucy was crying in, said. _

_ Lucy's voice spoke out shakily from the stall. "We'll just have to lie to him and go along with it. And we'll find Damien, no matter what it takes." _

_ Lisanna bit her lip. "That mean's I'll be dating Natsu." There was a slight shock to it. Even though she's had a crush on him before, she wasn't feeling so good. Her stomach twisted nervously. _

_ "Yeah. We can't tell him that I'm actually his girlfriend since he doesn't even remember me. It'll be forced if it happens. The only solution is for you to be what he thinks you are." Lucy's voice cracked._

_ "I can't do that. You're the one meant for Natsu. I may have been his childhood friend, but things have changed." Lisanna protested. It was true. She had no feelings for Natsu other than him being a friend. The past was the past._

_ "Well, break up with him. You're officially dating him now." the Take-Over mage heard Lucy get up and the door was pushed open. Lisanna inwardly winced. The blonde looked terrible. Her eyes were ringed red and her hair was slightly disheveled. "I'm gonna tell Master what happened and hopefully call a meeting." She said dully, moving past the two guarding the door, looking at the mirror hesitantly before exiting the bathroom._

The Take-Over mage hadn't forgotten the hopelessness she got a glance of in the mirror. A hollow-eyed look of despair. She couldn't keep dating Natsu, even though it wasn't really dating, and she didn't have feelings for him.

Dumping Natsu was harder than she'd thought.

"'You feeling okay?" Mira asked. Lisanna let out a shaky laugh, wiping away her wet eyes.

"Yeah! I don't know why I'm crying though." She said.

Master hobbled up to the girls and used his magic to climb up on a table. "You are just feeling empathetic. You feel Lucy's pain as well as yours. I am concerned for them though," he admitted.

Lisanna wiped her eyes, let out a shaky gasp and cleared her throat. "I'm fine now."

"Good." Mira smiled.

* * *

Ms. Spetto opened the door for Lucy, Kura and Erza, knowing exactly where Lucy would go and her friends would follow, but letting them take care of it. She sent a knowing smile at the two comforting the girl.

"You can sleep in the guest rooms tonight. Get some sleep. You'll need it. Third hallway, second door to the left." Ms. Spetto watched as the two knights' helped Lucy walk, whose legs looked like jelly. They disappeared around the corner.

* * *

Gray and Ren waited outside the study for Natsu to open the door or give them a signal for them to go back in. As soon as Lucy broke off, the girls left to follow her, leaving the guys behind.

Ren leaned against the wall, and Gray sat, leaning against the heavy oak double doors. "Oi, what's taking Flamebrain so long?" Gray muttered, trying to start some conversation between the two. Ren didn't answer, so the Ice mage shut up.

The non-mage suddenly stood. "Up." he commanded. Gray got up, confused. Ren pushed the doors open and Gray peered inside. Nobody was there, but a window was open, letting cool air blow around the curtain slightly. The communication lacryima was turned off.

"How'd you know?" the Ice alchemist asked, looking over at the darker-skinned man.

"Good hearing. Comes with lots of hunting." Ren walked inside. "It's not as good as the Dragon Slayer's but it works." He looked around. "Seems he ran through the window."

Gray scowled. Natsu running away..? It didn't seem realistic in his mind somehow. Even though they fought a lot, Gray was still the Fire Dragon Slayer's best male friend, and Natsu leaping out the window after talking with Lisanna was strange.

_Talking with..._ it clicked. "Oh," he said softly, feeling slightly empathetic for his friend. Lisanna had dumped him, even though they weren't actually dating. _That must have been a hard blow to his pride._

Gray looked out the window to look for his friend. Unfortunately, he was already gone. The sun was beginning to set also, so the Ice mage turned back, leaving the window open so he could climb back in again later. Ren followed him, and they headed to the guest rooms.

Despite what Gray thought, nobody saw Natsu that night.

* * *

**WAHHH! Now I feel bad. Doing this to them! I feel guilty. *pouts* Is it weird that I keep writing 'Dragon Slapper' rather than 'Dragon Slayer?' lol i'm weird.**

**For my constant review-ee, Dyeni: yes, I trolled and now i'm a heart-breaker! I feel so devious and so bad at the same time. yes, Erza's P-I-S-S-E-D. I hope this chapter's satisfactory!**

**Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but press the review button, and Review, maybe? ;3**


	10. Chapter 9

_Lucy woke up, eyes wide with fright. Her eyes darted around and she let out a sigh when she realized where she was. Her home, dressed in many casts and bandages and sweaty and itchy but she was in bed, with Natsu, in her house, _perfectly fine_. _

_ Lucy let out a breath of air she'd just noticed she was holding. She was perfectly fine. Natsu was fine, she reassured herself by placing her hands on his arms, wrapped around her stomach loosely. In a sleepy reaction, they moved slightly upward and tugged her closer. She blushed faintly but as long as he was asleep... _

_ See, he's perfectly fine, she thought, her eyes fluttering closed. No stolen memories. Lucy shuddered though. She'd remembered this dream with startlingly clarity. She felt as if she was stumbling through blindly, with no idea where to go or who to turn to. Usually it was Natsu who she looked at when she had problems, but Natsu had forgotten and was with... Lisanna._

_ She eyes widened when her door slammed open. She got up into an upright position, tugging out of Natsus arms. He sleepily protested, hands stumbling blindly to find her and hug Lucy again. The person who'd opened the door stomped into the room, screaming, "Natsu Dragneel!" _

_ Lucy got up this time, standing, as Lisanna stormed into the room. She pushed Lucy roughly aside, and practically fell on top of Natsu, lips landing on his. Lucy stared on the floor, dumbfounded._

_ Natsu opened his eyes, sent a glance at Lucy, but resumed kissing the Take-Over mage. Eventually she pulled away, panting heavily. She licked her lips. "Damn, Natsu, you can get so hot when you're like this." Natsu smirked, rolling over so that he was on top. _

_ Lucy finally regained her composure. She quickly lost it again. "_Natsu! What the hell do you think you're doing?_" she screamed. _

_ The Dragon Slayer sent a quick glance at her. It was sharp and uncaring. "Who the hell are you?" Lucy snapped, drowning in a pit of her own despair. The walls started drooping, but Lucy didn't pay any attention to that._

_ "W_-what... what do you mean_?" Lucy was frightful. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were wide and scared, watching Natsus cold, calculating expression. It didn't look like that. It couldn't look like that, because Natsu was always childish and caring but brave. Stupidly so, sometimes she wondered her own sanity dating him, but she somehow fell in love with the king of all idiots. This expression wasn't Natsu. _

_ "W_-who are you?_" she asked hopelessly, shaking her head and crying, before being swallowed up by the melting walls. She didn't fight it. In return, she received a scoff from Natsu, who resumed kissing Lisanna before being overrun too by the walls closing around them._

* * *

The next morning, Lucy woke up in a nice, comfy bed, sweaty and panting heavily. She'd cried herself to sleep last night, but thank the lord; Erza and Kura had stayed by her side. But now her stomach twisted into knots and she felt like throwing up. Really.

She got out of bed quickly, accidently waking up the two Knights on either side of her from their beds, ran to the bathroom, and positioned herself over the toilet. "I-I'm... not feeling so good..." she said when the mages looked into the bathroom to see what was going on.

Lucy felt sick. Emotionally drained, mentally unprepared, and physically weak. She couldn't protect Natsu when it came to it, and the thought made her stomach clench and tears come to her eyes. She heaved in a shuddering breath.

Erza moved in to rub her back, smiling tightly. "Nightmare?" she asked. Lucy nodded, tears forming in her eyes.

"N-Natsu was in bed with me, and then Li-Lisanna burst in and started kissing Natsu, but he wasn't Natsu because he was so cold and dead and..." she shuddered again. "The walls started closing in..." she burst into tears.

Kura and Erza stayed by her side until the door to the bedroom crashed open. "Natsu's gone!" Gray yelled.

Lucy threw up in the toilet.

* * *

The Fire Dragon Slayer had lay on the cold ground, chest aching and heartbroken. He tucked in his legs, feeling so cold, empty, and hollow.

_So this is what it feels like to be cold_... he thought absentmindedly, shivering on the dirt floor. His magic allowed him to stay warm in any frozen condition, and he never got hot, but it usually rose his temperature automatically. For some reason his Dragon Slayer Magic wasn't responding, but he didn't care. Let him be cold.

_Lisanna_... he didn't think about it too hard, or else the feelings came back at him full force. They threatened to tear apart his mind, so he simply lay on the forest floor, shivering and hollow. His breath came out in short breaths that clouded the air in front of him.

He lay there until the crack of dawn, feeling dead, until the bright yellow sunshine burst through the treetops and shined down on Natsu, making him squint. He continued to lie there, wallowing in his misery.

* * *

"Is she feeling okay?" Gray asked, looking at the bathroom door concernedly, hearing rather gross sounds coming from it. Erza had stayed behind, patting Lucy's back and moving her hair out of her face.

"Yeah, just a bad nightmare and she's not feeling so good." Kura explained, "but what was it about when you said 'Natsu's gone?'"

"He left by the window last night after his talk with Lisanna. I checked this morning, but the window was still open and he isn't in the mansion. He's still out there."

"Oh. Do you know what happened?"

Gray swallowed. "well, I guessed that Lisanna broke up with him."

"Oh." Kura knew the Mate bond. Dragon Slayers mated for life, only found one life partner. She knew if Ren ever left her she'd be shattered. She was already, [she didn't like to admit it,] slightly possessive over him, [for example, she stuck a fork into a table when a waitress at a restaurant was flirting with him, scaring her off,] but if he ever left her... she didn't even like thinking about it. A future without him would be pointless.

Mates aren't decided by looks. Of course, it helped to have a body like Lucy's, but Dragon Slayers chose their mates by soul. How compatible they were with this person's. Natsu's memories of Lucy, his real Mate, with Lisanna's, their soul compatibility would be therefore changed, Kura thought, and Natsu would be attracted to Lisanna.

There was a big If though. if the Mate bond was strong enough, Lucy's soul could break him free of Lisanna, but with the with memories and if he was already devoted to the Take-Over mage, then his thoughts would be in a mini war inside his head. His Mate bond fighting with the fake memories. _Maybe that's why he's been in such a sour mood lately, _Kura thought. Headaches, mood swings...

"We'll have to find him." the Energy Dragon Slayer had a personal plan, and she wasn't sure if it was going to split a bigger rift between Lucy and Natsu or create a bridge. She sighed.

"Hey Lucy?" Kura knocked on the door. "you feeling okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." she shuddered. "I'm fine now." she wasn't feeling fine, but she exited the bathroom, putting on a fake straight face, Erza following behind her. _Natsu was gone?_

Kura scoffed. "You're not fine, and we're gonna go search for Natsu. You coming?"

"Yes." She snapped. "how could I not, Kura? I'm his partner, or at least used to be, and it's especially my responsibility that he's safe." the Energy Dragon Slayer recoiled. _Lucy wasn't feeling good either._

"Sorry..." Lucy apologized. "I didn't mean to snap."

The Staller Spirit had a few strong, disturbing thoughts racing inside her head in the bathroom. It was her fault that this was happening. She wasn't strong enough to fight in the battle of ClockWork Tower. She needed her Dragon Slayer to protect her, and now Damien had come back for the person that ultimately led to his defeat. Natsu.

This never would have happened if Lucy was strong enough. She was always the weak link of the group, standing in the shadows of Erza, Gray, and Natsu. Heck, take away her keys and even Happy was more useful than she was. Come to it, and she was weak. Pathetic. She could barely fight on her own. Her spirits all did the fighting all for her.

She had cried, not only because Natsu was gone, because she was the weak one and she caused all this to fall on Natsu's shoulders. Not that he knew anyway.

"Hey Lucy? You feeling okay?" she had gotten up and walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm fine." She put on a fake smile.

* * *

"Okay, we're going to search the land around the Heartfilia Konzern." Kura announced. Of course, she knew where Natsu was hiding exactly, but Happy hadn't returned after she'd sent him out with private instructions, and she didn't want her plan ruined.

"Erza and Gray, you'll head to the North to South-east direction. Ren and I, South-east to South-west. Lucy and Aiko, head to the South-west to North." Kura knew, from her good sense of smell, Natsu was in the South-west section, purposely sending Lucy and clever Aiko, also with a good nose, over there.

"Okay, we know our sections, now we'll go search for Natsu. Send a signal into the air if you find him."

"Okay." The groups started separating.

"So, Lucy, how are you?" Aiko asked a couple minutes in.

"Fine, just fine." The tone was stiff. "How about you?"

"Really... I'm good." She said. Knowing that Lucy wouldn't stumble into the conversation she wanted she asked her directly.

"How do you feel about Natsu?"

She sent a sharp glance at the Exceed. "I'm pushing him away. I can't protect him and I'm only a burden on his shoulder, so I'm hopping off. I'm going to ignore him, because it eases the pain for him and me."

"You know that Natsu's single now, right?"

Lucy glared at her, and Aiko flinched under the heat. "good for him then. He's probably heartbroken, because his _mate_, which is supposed to be with him for life, broke up with him." it was a small, spitting rant, filled with venom. "And you wanna know what? I really don't care, because I'm not Natsu's girlfriend anymore. Or Lisanna. I don't like him anymore, because the Natsu I knew was..." she hiccupped, biting back sobs. "was so carefree and now he's under the weight of my mistakes. I wasn't strong enough to protect him, and now I'm letting him go, for his and my relief."

Aiko stared at her for a good ten seconds, and then she clawed her cheek, suddenly angry. "You're an idiot." She spat. "Natsu, and everyone else for that matter, knows you're strong. You fight alongside your Spirits and you shoulder your friend's issues along with them. You're a great person and Natsu, the almighty Salamander, looks up to you for that! The point of a relationship is to look up at the person you're with! Seeing each other as equals! Natsu isn't doing his part of the bargain because when you're down, he's supposed to pick you back up. Natsu saw, and still sees, you as a strong, powerful, passionate, flippin envious bodied female mage. You're an idiot to think that you're worthless. To all, and to him." the Exceed glared at her.

"Natsu's up ahead. Go comfort him." Her words were filled with spite, and she flew off, leaving Lucy alone.

Now she was mad. Lucy stomped through the forest, going to fetch Natsu so that she could drag him back to the mansion and go back to what she was doing. Wallowing in her sadness, which was perfectly fine for her to do.

She burst through another bush, and saw Natsu, lying on the ground, shivering. She was mad, but for a second, concern for him bled through. He was _shivering_. He was a fire mage. He never trembled from the cold, even on , where warm temperatures were -35°.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, eyes wide.

"Leave... me alone." He said, turning his head away from her, still trembling. Lucy frowned.

"Okay, Natsu, what happened?" she demanded. "After talking with Lisanna you suddenly disappear all night, what the hell is wrong?" she didn't mean to be so rough but seeing her all-powerful Dragon Slayer like this killed her.

"S-she..." Lucy stomped up to him, grabbed his scarf, and with more force than she'd thought she'd had, hauled Natsu to his feet and held him up. She glared at him, fierce, angry chocolate meeting dull black.

"Natsu, we both know who we are. I'm not gonna keep up the lie, but I'm not going to do anything you want to. I'll leave you alone." She bit her lip, suddenly nervous. "It's j-just..."

Lucy turned her face back to him, staring at him with a fire in her eyes. "I couldn't protect you. I want to be stronger. Natsu, will you fight me?"

Natsu's eyes widened, slightly jolting out of his stupor. "You... want... to fight me?"

She nodded, letting go of his scarf. He stumbled to his feet. "When the FDC controlled you I barely stood a chance, if any, without my Magic. If my keys get stolen again I need to know that I'll be okay to protect myself and my friends. I think that you need some distraction too."

Natsu blinked. She wanted... to fight? "Fine. Don't expect me to go easy."

She gave him a hearty glare. "I don't care if I'm battered and bruised by the end of this, teach me to fight."

"but first, you should treat that cut on your cheek." Natsu pointed out dully, looking out for his nakama. Lucy pressed a finger to where Aiko had scratched her. she knew the little cat would apologize later, but she was angry enough right now. her finger came off red.

Lucy wiped off the blood and shrugged. "i'll deal with it. I don't have any first aid or bandages."

He turned around, walking a few steps away from her to make some distance. "Whatever. You want to fight me? I won't use any fire, just hand-to-hand combat." The tone was stiff. She swallowed nervously, but raised her hands in what seemed to be a good fighting position. "You ready?" he said, back facing her.

"Uhm, yeah." Natsu was on her as soon as she finished. She barely had enough time to dodge as he sent a good punch at her face, which she responded to a kick. Of course it missed, and Natsu bounced back. He grinned. The Dragon Slayer was on her again, sending a kick to her face, but Lucy ducked just in time, feeling it skim the top of her head, but Natsu flipped over her crouched position, grabbed her arms, and held them there so she couldn't move.

"You're not bad, but I'm going easy on you." Lucy's eyes widened.

"E-easy?" she squeaked, struggling to get out of his grip.

"What about we try something else? You seem to be good with your feet, so I'll stand here and you kick me. I can't hit you back," he said, letting go of her arms and standing up.

She lowered her arms warily. "So, I try and hit you while you dodge?" he nodded. She shrugged.

She stepped up to him. Placing her foot back, she sent a flying swing of her leg, about where his stomach was. Once was, because Natsu jumped clear over the kick, straight up. Lucy stumbled back on her feet.

"Shit." She muttered. She'd have to think this through. Lucy leaped for him, small fist aimed for his face, and he jumped back, so Lucy followed with a kick and a punch. Natsu sidestepped, cleanly slid past her, and pressed a finger to her back. Being off-balance already, she tipped forward and landed smack on the ground, the wind knocked out of her. Rolling over quickly, scrambling to her feet, she stood facing Natsu. "I thought you said you weren't gonna attack back!" she snarled.

"I didn't. I pressed a finger to your back. If you call that attacking, then you really need to work on your definition of attack." _Damn him and his... his..!_ She growled, raising her hands instinctively closer to her face.

"Remember, the purpose of this game is for you to hit me. Go ahead." He grinned, with a wide expression on his face, challenging her. it didn't quite meet his eyes, but at least he was smiling. She accepted the challenge, pulling back and punching and kicking again.

* * *

Two and a half hours later, Lucy lay on the ground, breathing heavily and covered with sweat, while Natsu leaned on a tree, much less winded than she was. Somehow, even without the Dragon Slayer attacking her, she'd managed to get her knees and palms skinned and red, and she was sure to get some bruises in some places. She breathed heavily in and out, her chest rising and falling in harmony.

Lucy hadn't managed to land a _single hit _on Natsu in two-and-a-half hours. At the ninety-minute mark, Natsu said they, or more specifically she Lucy thought he was saying indirectly, should take a break. But she refused, continued to punch and kick for all that it was worth.

"You're doing good..." Natsu said, looking down at the girl on the ground humorously.

"Yeah... right. I couldn't... land a single... hit on you!" she breathed. He chuckled.

"Well," he walked over to her, grabbed her armpits, and hauled her to her feet. "Do your fighting position."

"What?"

"Do the position you were doing before." Lucy warily put her foot back and her hands clenched in loose fists.

"I don't mind teaching you." He said. "But there are a few things... not wrong, but could be improved on, in your stance. Your legs aren't wide enough, because I could easily tip you over if you're off-balance." Lucy moved her back foot to the side. "and try and punch with the fist in front of you, because you have more distance, see?" he pulled her fist fists out and showed her that the back one was further away from the target, his chest, than the one in front. "Meaning that you'll have faster attacks and less time for the enemy to dodge."

"You're back foot shouldn't be flat on the ground, it should be on guard so that it can leap away at any second." Lucy raised the heel of her foot; feeling slightly embarrassed how Natsu was teaching her this. "This saves time because to jump, you need your foot raised, meaning that you won't have to do it later. This means the difference of a nick and a broken bone." He told her, staring fiercely at her, eyes screaming _remember_ _this, remember this!_

She nodded. He looked at the newer position and nodded in approval. "I think it's okay. Of course, that's only the basics, and I couldn't teach you everything, but we might as well do as much as we can."

Next exercise was push ups. Lucy got on the ground, and Natsu stared at her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"You said push ups. I'm doing a push up."

He frowned. "no, this is a push up." he put himself into a regular push up position, bunched in his knees, and flipped onto his hands, doing a perfectly balanced hand-stand. Lucy gaped.

Then, to her amazement, he delicately took one of his hands off the ground, placing it behind his back, and lowered himself to the ground. "One... Two." He folded his arm each time, lowering until his nose was almost touching the ground, and then straightened.

"Natsu... I'm wearing a skirt." She protested. "I can't do that." He looked at her upside-down, eyebrow raised, looking up for a split second.

"And?"

She was flabbergasted at his stupidity sometimes. "If I even do a handstand, my skirt will fall down and you'll see my..." her face went red. "panties."

"So?"

She narrowed her eyes, and pushed his leg so that he fell over. He cried out, landing on his back, staring up at the Celestial Spirit mage. "I'm not showing you my panties!" she yelled.

"I've already seen them. They blew up a few times when we fought." Her face turned even redder, if that was possible.

"Quit looking, pervert!" she cried, stomping over to the other end of the grass and curling up into a ball, purple lines coming from the girl. Natsu gave her a sheepish expression, even though her back was turned to him.

"Okay, okay, it was an accident, alright? I won't ask to see your panties—" he didn't get the awkwardness of the phrase, it did nothing to make the blonde feel any less embarrassed, "—but come on, let's see if you can hit me this time. Let's make it a game."

"Really!" Lucy turned around with large, wet chibi eyes, swimming with tears.

"Uh, yeah?"

She stood up and started running towards him. He was confused. "wha—" he was bowled over by the Celestial Spirit mage. Once again, the wind was knocked out of him.

He looked up. Lucy was grinning down at him as she hit his arm. "Got 'cha." He blinked.

"I hit you. I win." Natsu narrowed his eyes.

"You tricked me."

"But it worked!" she smiled, brown eyes twinkling. His mouth twitched into a smirk.

He could always make her feel better, just by being around him. Natsu had a pleasant aura around him, that made you want to laugh and enjoy life, holding hands, skipping off into the sunset. Lucy hadn't seen that aura in a long time, but it felt good once it was back. Both of them felt better after letting some pent-in emotions out.

"Now let's say that attack didn't work as well as you thought and your opponent isn't knocked out. You are now perfectly susceptible to their attacks, because you are still in range." Her eyes widened and she rolled off of the Dragon Slayer, but it was too late.

"Ah hahahahaha! N-Na-NatSU!" he grabbed her sides and began moving his fingers, tickling her. "St-st-STOP!" she shrieked, laughing so much she could barely breathe.

"Oh no, your opponent got you!" Te cried into the air. "what do you do now?" Lucy reached out.

"Attack him back!" The girl, still laughing, reached for the spot... right there. He instantly began howling, releasing his grip for a moment, just fast enough that Lucy could escape. She remembered Natsu had a very ticklish spot where his rib was. He wasn't really ticklish anywhere else, but that spot really got to him.

She continued degrading the mighty Salamander into a laughing puddle by moving her fingers over his stomach. Natsu howled. "Ha HA! Lucy Lucy Lucy! St-stop!"

"When I said stop, you didn't so I'm not gonna either!" she boosted her efforts to make him laugh, and Natsu lost control. He clutched his stomach and kicked the dirt but she wouldn't let go. He rolled over onto his back and curled up into a ball.

"Now... you cant... get me now!" he announced breathily.

"You think so?" Lucy mused. He didn't like the tone of voice she was using. Natsu curled his head in and heard her shuffling around. He didn't dare look up in case she was trying to spring on him. The Dragon Slayer felt his sandal come off, and his head popped up.

But the damage was done. Lucy got hold of his foot and started tickling it. Natsu lost his position as he tried to pull his foot away, but Lucy held him tight under her arm. "I think this is an even better position because you can't reach me!" she cried, giggling.

He continued laughing. "okay! Okay! I surrender, I give!" Natsu shrieked. The fingers stopped, but Lucy didn't let go of the leg.

"Are you sure?" Lucy poked his foot, letting out a cry from the Dragon Slayer which he tried to cover up. She smirked over at him, poking his foot again. He squeaked.

"Yes! The Almighty Lucy wins this battle!" Lucy let go of his foot, and Natsu took a deep breath, trying to regain air in his lungs. She giggled.

Aiko watched downwind on a tree branch, smiling slightly at the two mages. She spread her wings and took flight, flying off to find Kura.

* * *

**Oh god, the dream scene was so awkward to write. I feel weird now. *shudders* that's why I refrain from writing make-out scenes. it's weird and kinda gross. Plus I haven't even had my own first kiss yet, so I only have what I've read from books. Either way, it was weird. This chapter had lots of fluff though, Aye? :3 Plus SpyNeko Aiko. **

**Haha! But, other than that, I'm feeling great! so many reviews! **

**NaLu Lover; well, I've been working hard, so here's two more chapters for you! thanks. I really appreciate you spending your time to review how awesome it is! :3**

**Dzhunnrah; Thaaaaaank yooooouuu. thanks for reviewing!**

**Haren08; me too! *you would not believe your eyes, if ten million fireflies...* :D I will! **

**LucyAshley: aw, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside! thank you so much! [here's a virtual cookie for you.] I will! **

**to my ever-awesome Dyeni; I hope this is satisfactory! trust me, looks of stuff gonna happen in the next few chappys. ;8^]**

**Raffelsia: we all love Fairy Tail. thank you for reviewing! **

**Guest 1: I shall upd8! here's two chapters for you. **

**cArDcApToRsAkUrA: haha thanks, but I wouldn't take it that far! thank you for reviewing! **

**Guest 2: here's two more chapters! I will, and am, updating as fast as I can! **

**Lisanna is Love: sorry, but this is a NaLu fic. you can look on the bottom and see what characters the story's about. or just search up Lisanna/Natsu fics. i'm a NaLu shipper, but thank you for reviewing! **

**Guest 3: I think that's supposed to be ':3' right? well thank you anyway!**


	11. Chapter 10

After Lucy had released the signal that she'd found Natsu, the group collected at the base of the no-longer Heartfilia mansion. It was around noon.

"Well, it only takes two hours by train to get to Aceto's ball and the event is happening tomorrow night, so we can still stay here." Erza said, glancing at Natsu warily. She didn't hit him for running away. he'd just needed to be alone. She thought that Kura knew where the Dragon Slayer was all along, and purposely sent the Celestial Spirit mage there to find him. she'd also thought that the reason why it took her about three hours was because they were... catching up.

"Okay." Everyone agreed.

"We still have to do something with the clothes Damien and Eric gave us though. How do we know that they aren't spell-bound?" Gray asked.

Ms. Spetto ran out in that moment, holding something in her hand. "oh, you were out here." She smiled. "another letter came for you while you were all out. It was sent by mail this time, not the boy." she said, handing them the orange envelope.

Lucy opened it and pulled out the note. Nothing else came out other than the sheet of paper. "FAIRIES, DO YOU REALLY NOT TRUST ME THAT MUCH? ASK MS. SPETTO FOR HER MAGICAL DEVICE FINDER UNDERNEATH HER DESK. I ASSURE YOU, I JUST SENT YOU THEM BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU MAY BE A LITTLE UNPREPARED FOR THIS EVENT. YOUR WELCOME, DAMIEN AND ERIC." Lucy crumpled the note and threw it on the ground, stomping on it for good measure.

"Ms. Spetto, may we borrow your magical device finder?" The lady, a bit pale after Lucy had read the note, ran into the house. Lucy and the others went to the female guest room, where all the clothes were stored. The maid came into the room, handing the device to Lucy and then left to double the guard around the house.

The Magical Device Finder, or MDF, was a small, hand-held screen that showed blinking blue dots for magical particles in the air. Where there were concentrated amounts, it meant magic stored in one space and directed to a purpose. Like a Binding Spell.

Lucy tapped the screen on. The little black screen came to life, and she saw little blue dots floating all over the page. Just to try, she turned around and pointed to her friends, gasping. "Cool!" she cried. Everyone, except Ren, was coloured in different shaded of blue dots. Ren, on the other hand, was mostly a black silhouette, tiny particles sticking to him, but his left wrist was speckled blue. Lucy frowned and zoomed in on the wrist. It was in a band pattern, and in the center there was a circle.

_Was that Kura's Mating mark?_ The Celestial Spirit mage thought. It made sense, but she didn't know it was made out of Magic. She zoomed out. "Guys, this is so cool! Hey, what do I look like?" She asked herself, pointing the camera towards her while peering over the screen awkwardly. Once again, she was blue!

"Okay Lucy, you should check the clothes now." Gray drawled. The blonde smiled apologetically and pointed the screen towards the dresses and tuxedo's. Other than a few sparks in the air, there was no concentrated blue.

"No spells." Lucy confirmed. "they're just plain dresses and tuxes."

"No, we're going to Aceto's ball in these?" Erza asked.

"Well, they are pretty." Aiko admitted, staring at her own tiny white dress.

"Aye! I have a fishy tux!" Happy cried, looking down at the blue piece.

Lucy smiled slightly. "They are nice and would go to waste if we didn't wear them."

* * *

The next day, around three o'clock in the afternoon, they boarded the train with their respective dresses or tuxes in their own bags. They got on, Erza knocked out Natsu and offered to Kura, but she said no, she'd prefer to stay conscious.

A few hours later, they stopped at a huge castle. Balsamico castle, which Team Natsu'd been to before, seven years ago. All of the building was lit up, lighting up the night, and music came from the windows. The group walked inside.

"It's so pretty!" Lucy commented, looking around. The very entrance was beautiful, with polished floors and gorgeous furniture and decorations. The giant, elegant chandelier hung above them, lighting the room nicely.

"Hello." A servant came to greet them. "You are mages, correct?" Everyone nodded, making a hand flame, bringing a quick flash of a sword out, a tiny ice sculpture, showing off keys, making flickering energy balls in a palm, sprouting wings, or just standing in the background awkwardly, hoping the servant wouldn't notice him. Once again he felt a flash of self-pity. Of course Ren had to be the only one who couldn't use Magic here.

"Thank you for coming. The dressing rooms are to the right, and once you are dressed, continue on into the ballroom." Everyone moved, Ren in the middle so the servant was less likely to notice him. Eventually, the hallway split into two parts, labelled Men and Ladies.

"See you on the other side." Lucy said, waving to Ren, Natsu, Gray, and Happy. The guys disappeared around the corner. Erza, Kura, Aiko and Lucy went to their own rooms.

Everyone got a small cubbyhole to themselves, where there was a small desk with a mirror and a bench inside. The wall was a curtain that you could slide shut so you were out of view. Lucy zipped the curtain shut and unzipped her duffel bag. She found the dress and smoothed out the creases accidently made in the sack.

Lucy slipped on the dress with little difficulty, having practice with the fancy dresses she wore when she was smaller, and then spun around in front of the mirror, hands up. She had to admit, Damien at least had a fashion sense.

The dress was stunning on the blonde. It was a midnight black, long, strapless dress with a slight poof at the end. It was tight enough that it didn't squeeze her to death, but was padded in certain areas to make her already generous curves and assets look better than they already were. Tiny silvery sequins were sewn into the fabric with enough delicacy that her body looked like the starry night sky; when she moved it seemingly created a trail of stardust. She hadn't done her makeup or added accessories and she already looked dazzling.

Lucy bent down, searching her travel bag to find some nice ball shoes and some add-ons. She didn't want to wear heels in case there was a fight, and besides, the dress was long enough that it hid her feet unless she kicked them up or the person bent down to look at them. _Some simple black flats would do_, the blonde thought.

Her hand moved around the duffel bag, searching through her clothes to find... she felt something leathery, thinking it was her shoes. Tugging it out, mouth opened slightly, she raised her arm.

It definitely wasn't a pair of flats. It was an old, broken black sandal. Lucy frowned and ducked her head.

* * *

Their mission was in a forest.

_ "Hey Luce!" Natsu warned her a split second before she ducked, and the man creeping behind her flew over the girl. The Dragon Slayer kicked him away with a well-placed snap kick, sending him flying, but there was a sickening crack, and his sandal flew off with the thief. _

_ "Whoops." Lucy chuckled at the pink-haired boy staring at his foot. He didn't have much time to think about it as two more men came at him, swinging around a pocketknife and a hammer. Natsu ducked under the first weapon, rolled, and punched the second guy over into . Both sprawled on the ground, and Natsu finished them off with a dual-Dragon's wing attack._

_ Lucy lashed out her whip, wrapping it around a thief's ankle, and made him fly into another group of his friends, for some reason laughing._

* * *

_Erza had tied the bandits up and threw them in her wagon; Team Natsu started walking to the nearby town to get their money for the job they had just completed. All 32 bandits caught._

_ Lucy was chatting with Natsu, but her friends whipped their heads towards her when she tipped forward, crying out. She landed on the dirty ground with a thud, rocks and dirt skinning her knees. She winced, biting back tears. Sure she'd experienced worse, but it still hurt._

_ "Luce, you okay?" A half-shoed Natsu helped her up and bent over to pick up what she'd tripped over. It was his discarded sandal. "It looks like it got revenge for being thrown out," he said, half-joking. _

_ The sandal was very worn from years of use and had to be fixed by Natsu loads of times. [He wouldn't admit it to his friends, but he knew how to sew, actually quite well, but it seemed like such a girly task that he kept it between Happy and himself.] It wasn't the first time the leather had snapped, unfortunately, but he'd fixed it enough times that he was getting tired of it. He had an extra, less worn pair at home anyways, so he was about to throw it over his shoulder but Lucy stopped him. _

_ "Here Natsu. When we get back I'll fix them." Natsu didn't know why he complied but he handed her the sandal and she popped it into her bag._

* * *

Of course. It was the same bag that she'd been carrying around all this time. She'd completely forgotten about the shoe and Lucy had been holding it over her shoulder or in a luggage rack all this time. Tears prickled her eyes but she fought them back. She wouldn't cry. It would make her eyes all red and she didn't want that when she was about to go to a ball.

Lucy shoved the sandal back in roughly and searched again. Eventually she gave up being neat and started ripping clothes out. She still couldn't find her little baggy, so she started shuffling through the load of clothes. Before her hands touched it though, she froze. Lying on top, was a pair of baby-blue, little flying chibi Dragons PJ pants. She cursed, the tears threatening to come again. Fate just _despised_ her recently, hadn't it?

* * *

_"Hey Luce! Come and look at these!" _

_ Lucy hobbled over on her crutches and looked up at the hung up cloths where her boyfriend was pointing at. Natsu had taken her shopping since he'd said they needed to get her out of the house and it was something he knew she'd enjoyed. Lucy had complained, knowing that Natsu was only doing it because only _she_ would enjoy it, but unknowingly the arguing had stopped as soon as she saw the first clothing store. Later, she would silently curse herself for not defending him more._

_ "What?" as soon as she said it, she noticed the cute little Pjs hanging up. They had tiny red Dragons flying all over the comfy, fleecy-looking material, and on the chest a crimson heart with the words "I love Dragons" on it. Lucy checked the price tag quickly and instantly bought it, even though it was slightly overpriced. _

* * *

She hadn't noticed as she packed that she'd grabbed _those_ particular pants. The tears were threatening to overflow, so she threw the pants away quickly and finally found her damned shoes and makeup/accessories kit. She stuffed the clothes back in, shoving the sandal and pants into the deepest part of her bag and zipping it up, pretending that all her insecurities were locked in there too.

She took a deep breath in and started preparing for the ball. Lucy slipped on her flats and applied makeup while summoning Cancer so he could do her hair up in a fancy, spiky bun that looked slightly messy and yet elegant at the same time. Two long strands of hair framed her pretty face. She put on a silver pendant necklace that complimented well on the dress.

"Hey Lucy, you almost done?" The voice she recognized as Kura called. "Aiko and I are coming in!" The curtain moved aside and the Dragon Slayer gasped. The Exceed behind her looked beyond Kura and smiled.

"You look stunning Lucy!" The purple-haired sword user exclaimed. She looked quite good in her purple long halter dress, bunched up slightly at the side to make a river of cloth, and she still didn't put on makeup. Her hair was put down, curling slightly over her shoulders and her cheeks were slightly red.

Lucy put on a smile, noticing her friend's nervousness. "You look better than I do," she complimented. "Come on, you're gorgeous! It's just a little bit of the jitter bugs." The blonde pulled her inside, Aiko following behind. The little Exceed was in a white dress with straps. There were no sleeves, but a cute purple ribbon was tied around her. She looked adorable.

"I-I... I mean... do you think I look okay?" Kura asked unsurely, playing nervously with her hair.

Lucy grinned. "You're not used to dressing up, are you?"

"Y-yeah... that and..." Kura's face turned into a pout. "Well, the Attack on our Church happened the day we were having a celebration. Two of us were having a wedding." Lucy felt sympathetic for her friend. She didn't know that. Even though Kura wore her regular purple dress with her black vest over it usually, she'd never seen her friend actually_ dress up_ for an occasion. Not that she'd known her for too long, but now she understood.

"Don't worry. Everything will go fine. With all of us against Eric and Damien, none of us are gonna get hurt." Lucy reassured her.

"I'm just nervous that Ren won't be able to protect himself." Ren wasn't a mage, he'd stayed with Kura and Aiko in FairyTail, but he hadn't ever used magic. The blonde smiled tightly.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. And besides, he has a pretty wicked sword. He had his own ways and if you're that concerned, you can just stay and dance with him. You two are dating, and it's not an excuse to stay close to one another."

"Yeah. Okay." Kura smiled tightly, silently wondering how much it hurt Lucy to be giving her dating tips. To answer the question, a lot for the blonde. _She was so confused about her own relationship with Natsu right now..._ Kura searched her face before blushing again.

"Um... erm... could you... help me get ready?" Kura asked shyly, trying to break the tension-filled atmosphere. Lucy smiled widely before rummaging through her baggy, holding up a mascara wand evilly. The Dragon Slayer forcefully swallowed.

* * *

**Haha Kura...**

**I feel great, because I've gotten two chapters uploaded today! yay! I answered all of your reviews in the previous chapter, got two new chapters posted... I'm on a roll! The next chapter also will be out soon. **

**review? **


	12. Chapter 11

As soon as Kura was done, eyes dusted with purple eye shadow that brought out her startling violet orbs, lips glossed so that they stood out more, and hair slightly curled in waves from her straight hair by Cancer, she peered at herself in the mirror.

"Do I look okay?" Kura looked pretty good, and Lucy was proud of her job well done.

"Nonsense! You look gorgeous!" the Stellar Spirit mage cried. "Now go out there and go kill Ren by giving him a heart-attack."

"I don't want to kill him...' Kura muttered, but her words were enough to encourage the Dragon Slayer and she stopped concerning over her looks. Aiko spread her wings and flew next to her, smiling widely.

"Kura, you look amazing!' she cried to the insecure girl. Kura smiled tightly, blushing.

"Lucy, Kura, Aiko? Are you ready?" Erza called on the other side of the curtain.

"Yeah!" they cried, collecting their things and walking out. Erza was wearing a smooth, velvety red dress, which sparkled with shiny sequins that made her sparkle almost. Her lips were done over with red lipstick and her lashes looked longer and thicker with mascara. Her scarlet hair was done up in a fancy high bun. She looked very gorgeous and sexy.

"Erza, you look great!" Lucy cried, looking over her friend. The Knight smiled, showing off her dazzling white teeth. The girls started walking wordlessly to the end of the hall, placing their belongings in a magical safe on their way.

The reached the end of the hallway, where they heard music playing. Each of the girls smiled when they saw the boys, waiting at the entrance for them.

Gray was wearing a navy coloured tuxedo-vest, with hardly any sleeves and there a blue rose corset in the chest-pocket. The vest was buttoned up snugly, and underneath was a simple white dress-shirt. His bowtie matched with the rose in his chest-pocket, and he wore black leather shoes. Simple, but it worked on him.

Ren was dressed in a black tux. It had a deep V-neck and flaps put onto the side. Underneath was a wine-coloured dress-shirt; his shoes were the same colour. He was adjusting the white tie nervously as Kura stepped into view, but he put on a smile and immediately went up to her.

Happy was in a blue tuxedo, with little fish swimming around his ankles and sleeve cuffs. His cute little tie was also decorated with fish, and his white-tipped tail poked out from behind the suit.

Natsu was also in a black suit, similar to Ren's but with a pink tie and leather shoes. The tux was tailored to make his shoulders look very broad, and underneath the deep V-neck and pink tie was a red dress shirt. He didn't exactly look comfortable, but followed Ren as the girls came into view.

Lucy watched as Ren and Kura took one another's hand to go dance and felt a pang of sadness, but she wiped it off the slate quickly. She took Gray's arm and left Natsu at the mercy of the 'Dancing Demon' Titania. Happy left with Aiko.

Lucy dragged the Ice mage through the crowd. "Whoa whoa!" Gray cried. "No need to drag! And besides, why aren't you going with Natsu?" he asked.

"Cause I'm not interested anymore than more than friends." Lucy snapped, continuing to pull him through the crowd. "and besides, do you want to be stuck with Erza at a ball?" Gray swallowed nervously.

"I-I guess not." He said.

Natsu watched as Lucy zoomed over to Gray, and started dragging the boy away, leaving him along with Erza. Crap. It wasn't that he wanted to go with Lucy, but he'd much prefer the blonde over the scarlet at a dancing ball. Erza would, _one_, want to dance, _two_, he couldn't say no, _three_, those floating dance pedestals made him sick, and _four_, Erza the Dancing Demon made him even more sick.

"You can go, if you want." Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"I'll let you go this time. Go after Lucy and Gray if you want." Natsu blinked at the well-dressed woman and followed her orders, fading into the crowd. Erza smiled, but it didn't quite meet her eyes.

There was only one man she would want to dance, maybe a nice slow dance, with, and he wasn't here.

Natsu shifted through the crowd, searching for the dark bluenet and blonde. Finally he spotted them sitting at one of the side tables. "Gray, Lucy!" he said, moving over to them. Certain well-dressed people standing around him sent the Dragon Slayer dirty, snobby looks. _This was a _ball_; you weren't supposed to yell like a young hooligan_.

Natsu paid no attention, pulling up a chair, "so, what's up?" he asked. Lucy swore inside her head, every insult she could think of.

"Nothing. Just lounging around and looking for our target." She explained.

"Oh. Okay!" he grinned, a little too widely.

"What?" Lucy asked, suspicious.

"What what?"

"No, I meant why are you smiling like that? It's creepy."

"Smiling like what?" the grin wiped off his face.

She threw up her hands, rolling her eyes, "whatever." Gray pulled out his chair.

"Well, I'm gonna go find Erza, because it's not good to be on your own. See you!" Lucy's eyes widened in betrayal as the Ice Mage gave her a sly look, standing up and disappearing into the crowd.

She swore under her breath, and Natsu's eyes widened. "Whoa... I didn't even know you knew that word." He commented, making Lucy's face flush.

"You weren't meant to hear it," she muttered.

"Don't worry. I know worse, like—" Lucy clamped a hand on his mouth.

"You're not supposed to say words like that at a ball!" she hissed.

"Ut two widdit." Lucy frowned and took her hand of the Dragon Slayers face.

"But you did it." he said, frowning. "So I can't see why I can't say—" Lucy fixed him with such a scary Death-Glare that he shut up.

"Okay!" he squealed, going and looking down at the table, palms pressed firmly on his lap. For a few seconds, he continued staring at the tablecloth, sometimes squirming like a toddler, and Lucy sighed.

"Go to the damned buffet table—" Natsu grinned, said a quick 'Thanks,' and ran off. Lucy let out a huff of air. "—but I'm coming with you because you're likely to cause some trouble." She got up and followed the excited Dragon Slayer.

She eventually found him in the large SpicyFood selection. Aceto had prepared almost every dish you could possibly think of, all set up in rows of tables and heaters to keep them warm. They had food for specialized mages too, so Lucy found Natsu coming back with a piled-high plate of spicy chicken legs and boxes of matches. Lucy mentally facepalmed. Of all the fancy food here, he had to choose _chicken legs_ and _matches_.

"You, wait here." Lucy commanded to the seemingly happy Natsu. He froze, but stayed on the spot while Lucy got her own plate. She wasn't letting Natsu go on his own, because what havoc he could cause in the span of a few short minutes. The Stellar Spirit mage was sure that he would trip, creating some sort of chain reaction that ended up with the whole building destroyed. Natsu was destructive, no doubt about that. It was a miracle that he hadn't destroyed her house back in Magnolia yet.

A plateful of mashed potatoes, a salad, and a slice of lasagna later, Lucy walked back with Natsu to their table. Natsu instantly began eating, food flying everywhere, but when Lucy gave him the glare he quieted down. He still wouldn't use utensils.

Music, loud trumpets that hurt Natsu's ears, boomed from one of the high balconies. A woman and man, with chestnut hair and pink eyes, and then dark skin and an afro walked on. A figure, much smaller, walked beside them. Lucy couldn't see them clearly, because his face was behind by a post.

Aceto, the woman, smiled down at the wizards underneath her. Her pink eyes shuffled through the crowd. "Hello all! This is the Balsamico's 7 year wizard ball! I thank you all for coming and congratulating our soon-coming wedding!" the man next to her, dressed in a tuxedo, kissed her lightly on the cheek. It was Velvento, a criminal who proposed to Aceto seven years ago. She accepted, but he had to be taken away into jail for his crimes. _Seven years later_, Lucy guessed, _he was released_.

Aceto bent over, because the tiny figure beside her whispered something in her ear. "And my little brother would like to say something to the crowd." The small figure stepped out of the shadows, and exactly eight people in the crowd gagged or choked. It was Eric, the Aera-Magic user, wearing a mask but the pink eyes seen through it and the bleach-blonde hair gave him away. His rose orbs skimmed over the crowd, and he met Lucy's eyes for a split second.

"Hello all. My name is Eric Balsamico. I am the sister to Aceto, and soon to be brother-in-law to Velvento. I was unfortunate to miss Velvento's proposal, as I was only three, but I'd like to congratulate my dear sister, and I hope they have happy lives together." he stepped down, and Lucy nearly summoned one of her spirits, but as long as Eric was close to Aceto, she couldn't make a move against them. The crowd clapped.

Natsu and the Stellar Spirit mage stood up as soon as Eric, Aceto, and Velvento disappeared. They ran through the crowd as fast as they could to find their partners. Lucy, in front, crashed into Gray, landing on the ground with a 'omph!'. They both looked up/down at the other, Gray lending her a hand and pulling her up.

"We gotta find Erza and Team Kura." Lucy spied Happy and Aiko then, flying through the air searching for them, when there was a startling crack. Yellow energy enveloped the two Exceeds, and then fell like rocks. Natsu, and on the other side where the first group couldn't see her, Kura, ran to catch the falling cats. People screamed, moving out of the way.

"Happy!" "Aiko!" the two Dragon Slayers crashed into each other and landed in a heap. They ignored it though and scrambled to at least soften the landing, but their limbs were tangled together. they made a leap for it, and Natsu caught both Exceeds in his arms. Kura snatched Aiko.

"Hey! Get off my Mate, pervert!" Ren burst through the crowd, looking slightly pissed when he saw the position the Dragon Slayers were in. Natsu, knowing the possessive bond between a Dragon and its Mate, got off quickly without saying a word.

Kura looked up. "Sorry. There was a... never mind." She shook her hand and got up, "Could you take the Exceeds?" she asked, handing unconscious Happy and Aiko to Ren. He shut his mouth, swallowing his pride, barely, and took the cats.

Most people had left when they heard the screaming, so Team Natsu and Team Kura were practically the only people inside the ballroom. Except a middle-aged man standing in the middle. He wore a long, dramatic forest green cape, with a blue tuxedo under it. A long-nosed, elegant mask was perched on his nose, covering half his face. He smiled, taking the mask and throwing it aside.

Eric flew down from the balcony, landing on the banister, precariously balanced there like a bird on its perch. He wore a deep blue tuxedo, pink eyes searching over the group under his mask, smiling wickedly. The red visor was shaped like a fox, decorated with yellow sequins, but he took it off, throwing it to the ground.

"Hello Fairies. So nice to see you again. Glad you could come."

* * *

**HAPPY; Pikaskye won't be in today, because she is in shock of checking her Fanfiction account and seeing how many reviews she's gotten. Aye! She'll be back soon. To her totally awesome, Gray/Natsu bro-fist epic reviewers:**

**Nalu lover: yeah, the internet didn't work yesterday so she got lots of time typing it up on Microsoft Word. She hopes she makes you guys happy! [she says she ran out of cookies... would you like a fish instead?] **

**Rafflesia: heh, sorry. sometimes Pikaskye misses stuff. especially because she posted the chapter just before she headed out so she just did a fast edit last time. whoops. but Pikaskye says Thank you! **

**Guest... the one who sent her the '3': whoops. she kept thinking it was a :3, catty sign! [like me!] but thank you so much! **

**Lisanna is love; Pikaske's not trying to make Lisanna the bad guy here, and she's sorry if it seems like it [she says may punish her when she comes out of her shock T^T] but more as tension between Natsu and Lucy. They're all dreams, and she honestly thinks Lisanna's a nice girl. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Guest... she doesn't know which one you are...: your welcomezzzzz**

**Harem08: Totally. She'd had it stuck in her head for awhile until it started to form the idea. she'd been planning to do a fic, Natsu forgets Lucy, for awhile, but the song actually formed the beginning date, just to add a little more anguish to Lucy. Life sucks for her, because Pikaskye's a Lucy sadist and likes to do horrible things to her relationships. [Wahh! Pikaskye's so mean!]**

**Jenny: heh, lol. thank you for reviewing, and she'll mention it if Pikaskye ever does publish a real novel! ;D**

**cardcaptorsakura: thank you! **

**to Pikaskye's totally awesome Dyeni: she wanted to do a scene like that, Lucy fighting Natsu, because, {if it's harmless, not like the Battle at ClockWork tower,} she could actually find some fun spending time with him. Plus getting Lucy frustrated is fun. ;3 Don't worry, she's not overworking, the internet was down yesterday so she had extra time to type, plus about a quarter of it was already pre-done from past inspiration. but thank you for your concern! Pikaskye'll be getting the next chapter up soon. she loves the attention! [no doubt, she's in shock from it, it's the only reason i'm here...] **

**Review, Aye? :3**


	13. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER [thank you ****HiroMashima p**** for reminding me to do so,]: I don't own Fairy Tail, the legendary Hiro Mashima-sensei does, and i'm not sure if ****HiroMashima p**** is him! [does he even speak English? i'm confused...]**

* * *

Damien smiled at the group one end of the ballroom. Unfortunately, Erza was stuck on the other end, but she looked fierce in her red dress. She requipped into her Flight armour, but Eric swung down and blocked her from attacking Damien.

"I try and refrain from hurting children, but Eric, you have done too much to Natsu and Lucy for you to be considered a child anymore! You are a monster!" she leaped for him, snarling, holding out the twin blades dangerously.

"Why thank you." Eric spread his wings, hopped into the air, a split second before he was cut into pieces. He let them go rigid, and then the boy dropped like a stone, making a surprisingly large crater into the ground, where Erza once stood. She managed to bounce back before he hit her, instantly lunging forward again.

"I suppose I must get you for defeating my sister a month ago." He looked up at the balcony, "Well, my other sister Roxanne. Not Aceto. Roxanne's still in the hospital because of you. Broke a couple of bones. Can't walk for a good three-four months."

"Oh well. She was in my way." Erza snapped.

Natsu and the group focused their attention back to Damien. "Well, seems like those two are busy." The man mused.

"Give back Natsu's memories, or else I am going to beat you into the ground with so much force that even your ancestor's gonna hurt," Lucy snarled, stepping forward threateningly. Instantly when she saw them unbridled fury flooded her veins.

He pretended to think for a moment. "Does it hurt, Heartfilia? Seeing your loved one turn away and ogle someone else?" he sent a knowing grin at her. In the background, Natsu flushed a bright red. Ren noticed it but kept his mouth shut.

"Watching as your Dragon is put under the pressure of your mistakes, without even knowing it? Knowing that because _you_, were, too, weak... you couldn't help him?" his voice raised a bit. "Fighting inner battles that snap your heart and feelings in two, not knowing who to turn to because the one person you could rely on is gone? Chasing after another girl, leaving you feeling betrayed and self-pitiful, because the one person you could lean on when you're weak isn't there."

She wouldn't let him get to her. "Give, back, Natsu's, memories, of me, NOW!" she hissed, like a child having a temper tantrum. Her anger was boiling right now, and she wanted to snap every bone in his body for every mishap he had caused in their lives. Tears started streaming down her face.

"What ever do you mean?" he asked, faking innocence while taking something out of his pocket. It was a tiny glass orb. Inside, a small flame flickered, but the thing looked _pitiful_.

"For once, Dragneel's Fire Magic isn't to his advantage. I'm going to explain the Magic of this orb."

"The smoke you found in the alleyway was indeed Forgetting smoke, sometimes called "Memory Lane" because it takes your most precious memory, whether it be a person or an object, away from you, and as the victim breathes it in. Memory Lane steals the memories, and places them into its twin."

"Therapist's often use this Smoke to relieve scary or stressful experiences, handing back the memory whenever the patient feels okay to regain them. Now me, on the other hand, returned Natsu's memories, but simply tampered with them to make new ones, sent the new ones back into his brain, and kept the real ones."

"These are Natsu's real memories of you." Damien held up the orb, where the pitiful flame flickered.

"You would expect it to be a bonfire inside, being your temperamental Natsu, but since his memories took on the form of flame, and there's no air left inside the orb, it's slowly beginning to die. Flame needs air to burn, but it doesn't have any, so the Flame Memories are beginning to slip. They won't last too much longer, but of course they're fighting it."

"Give them back now!" Lucy cried.

Damien shrugged. "Well, either way, you can't force them back without your Sky Dragon Slayer or at least a magical doctor to put them back in safely. So this is no use to you now." he put the tiny orb back into his pocket, and Lucy swore that it flickered angrily before being put back.

"Give back Natsu's memories now, or I will shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be burping shoe leather for weeks." She was furious, grabbing a powerful key and wielding it dangerously in front of her.

"Yeah!" Natsu came and stood beside her, hands flaming. "I want my memories back!"

"I highly doubt that even if I gave you the orb right now you'd let me go. If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get."

"Bring it on! I'm all fired up!" Natsu punched his fists together, flying for Damien, fire fueling his already impressive speed. Damien smirked, using his Lightning Magic to boost his own too, dodging around him, sending a crackling yellow beam of energy at his back. The Salamander spun around, letting out a Breath Attack to counter it, making a miniature explosion.

Eric's flapping wings in the background, fighting with Erza, blew the smoke away. "Open, Gate of the Archer, Sagittarius!" Lucy got out her whip as the horse-man poofed into the air beside her, shredding the bottom of her dress so she could move better. The fine silk was easy to rip.

"Moshi Moshi. Commander, I shall fire?"

"Attack Damien!" Grabbing her whip, Lucy took the handle and let her FleuveEtoile, River of the Stars, do the talking. The whip sparked to life. "Damien had it coming for him."

"Attack!" she shouted a battle cry as she leaped for Damien. The older man smirked, sending a lighting blast at both the Salamander and Stellar Spirit mage from both hands. "Hyah!" Lucy whipped her FleuveEtoile forward, wrapping it around Damien's ankle, sending the man lying up into the air. Natsu followed, punching him back down, creating a crater in the ballroom. Lucy high-fived him, standing over Damien.

"You lost. Now give it up." Lucy said, holding out her hand, beckoning. Kura followed behind her, telling Gray to protect Ren. Damien lay on the ground, looking almost dead, but his shuddering breathing was enough to say he was alive.

Suddenly, it stopped and the older man smirked. Lucy covered her arms over her face as a large blast of electricity surrounded the man. They were all blasted back.

Kura, the first one to recover, leapt for Damien, snarling. Her hands were covered in a purpley-blue light, and whatever she touched crumbled to dust. "Energy Dragon's Crushing Fists!" she swung for him, but Damien sidestepped the hits. He held his hand out, managing to catch her face, and blasted her backwards. Ren cried out and went to check if she was okay.

Natsu and Lucy stood up, both glancing at Kura. She got up on her elbows, teeth grit and jaw locked, one eye closed. There were several small burn marks on her cheeks and forehead. She struggled to get up, but Ren popped her back down, scolding her. Gray started putting ice where the burns were, and handed her a large piece. She crunched on it, trying to regain Magic using her Energy Dragon Slayer ability to eat Magic.

"Kura's temporarily out." Lucy muttered under her breath so Damien couldn't hear. She knew Natsu with his Dragon Hearing would though. "Gray has to help Kura, we're not putting a non-mage against Damien, and Erza's fighting Eric." She looked over at their battle. The Aera mage had two blades strapped to his arms, and Titania was in her Black Wing Armour. They battled fiercely, jumping back and forth, blades clashing and sparking, almost looking like an intricate dance.

"The Exceeds are down. It's just you and me." Lucy finished.

"We'll beat him and get back my memories, 'kay?" Natsu glanced at her from the corner of his eye, grinning. "There's no chance we'll lose." Lucy smiled.

"Oh, you two are having a little pep talk, are we?" Damien drawled. "Cute." Yellow sparking energy flashed dangerously around him

"Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!" the ginger-haired Sprit came out.

"I believe, I owe this man an ass-kicking for hurting my Master." He cracked his knuckles."I'm looking forward to it."

"Hello Loke." Damien smirked. "Come to join the party too?" the Lion Sprit met his gaze with a fiery one.

Natsu and Leo leapt for Damien. The older man's feet crackled with Magic, and he shot into the air, landing on the ceiling, remaining there for a split-second, before using his legs to push off and tackle into Loke. The spirit grit his teeth, but flipped him off. Damien landed on his feet skidding a little, instantly charging again. He spun on Natsu, ducking under his kick and grabbing his leg. Natsu "huh"-ed as Damien pushed, making him cry out. Damien caught him, spun him around, and threw him at Lucy.

"AH!" Lucy landed on the ground, Natsu on top. For a moment, they stared face-to-face, Lucy blushing furiously, but the Dragon Slayer scrambled off hurriedly. _He totally did that on purpose_, Lucy seethed, getting back on her feet.

Damien held out his hands, but in stead of aiming at Natsu and Lucy, pointed in towards Ren, Gray, and Kura. Gray realized in too late, and the Dragon Slayer and non-mage couldn't do anything.

Bolts of lightning struck the team, all crying out. Gray had attempted to make an Ice Shield at the last moment, but it was flimsy and shattered in an instant.

"Stop hurting our friends!" Natsu roared, before flinging himself at Damien. Before he could get there, Leo was blasted back. He disappeared in pain. The next second, the older man spun on Natsu, holding his hands out. He grinned, and before Natsu could move, a ball appeared in Damien's hands and shot Natsu in the chest.

The Dragon Slayer was thrown back. Lucy cried out, running after him. She bent down next to his body. She searched his chest for any major, finishing wounds that Damien would have made. She frowned. His vest was perfectly fine, not shredded apart, or soaked in blood, Natsu just groaned. His eyes flew open.

"I... I can't... move..!" he hissed, trying to roll over and get on his feet to attack Damien again. The man didn't make a move, watching the two on the ground in front of him.

He smirked, explaining it for them. "Thanks to my Thunder Magic, implanted in me with a lacyrima, I can bend static electricity and use moves like this. This is called Static Stillness, because the victim, Natsu, will not be able to move for a good twenty minutes." The Dragon Slayer hissed in protest and tried to shift, but there was a startling pain in his limbs whenever he tried. He couldn't move him arms more than a few centimeters.

"So now, my job is to kill Natsu while Lucy watches." He lifted his arms, palms pointing at the pink-haired boy. Lucy stood up, standing in front of him.

"No."

Damien smirked, lowering his hands. "this is better than I thought. if you, Lucy Heartfilia, move, than this attack will certainly kill Natsu in this state."

"You've taken next to everything from us, I won't let you take his life."

"If you move, your poor Natsu will die." Damien smirked, holding out his hand. Lucy continued holding her arms out protectively and grit her teeth. As expected, the yellow blast came.

"Hr!" She had to clench her teeth so she didn't bite her tongue off. Everything hurt, and there was a roaring in her ears. Lucy wasn't sure if it was Natsu or the lightning flickering around her. A million knives stuck into the Celestial Spirit mage, but she refused to move a step. The force of the blast left two long heel-marks in the ballroom though.

Finally, the roaring ceased and Lucy fell to the ground, glaring murderously at Damien.

"Lucy!" Natsu cried out weakly for her, but he couldn't move his limbs. Despite the pain he inched over to her, gritting his teeth. The Magic of the spell was beginning to fade, only a little bit, but it still hurt to move.

"You're an idiot." He muttered, cheek resting on the ground. "I would have taken that hit. Stop wasting your energy and... kick his ass for me..." he breathed, struggling to get up and help her. Lucy smiled tightly, standing up on her feet. In comparison, that blast was nothing to her anger and drive to get Damien.

_I can do this. I trained with Natsu, I have full magic power, and I'm not losing to the guy that took MY Natsu's memories and get away with it_. "Open, Gate of the Maiden, the Goat, and the Scorpion, Virgo, Capricorn, and Scorpio!" the purple-haired maid popped into view, steely eyed, the humanoid goat wearing a waistcoat adjusting his sunglasses, and a SandGun-tailed Scorpio prepared for battle. Lucy grit her teeth, but got out her whip. Using this many Spirits at once in this state wasn't good for her, but she endured it.

"Punishment, Princess?"

"Another beating today, Lucy?"

"Yo! We are!"

"Virgo, Capricorn, Scorpio, we're going all out today." They flung themselves at Damien, all having the same goal.

Natsu watched with interest as the four worked together as a team. Capricorn put himself against the evil mage, meeting him hand-to-foot, yellow energy crackling around them. He managed to get a good elbow and kick in, making him fly back. Scorpio was there to blast him, not giving him a break, making him fly in the other direction. Damien snarled, spinning on the Scorpion, and blasted him, but the distraction proved good. He disappeared, but his work was done. Lucy's whip snaked around Damien's ankle, and pulled him at the Goat. Capricorn kicked him, and Virgo pulled him underground. The earth shook, and then Damien appeared, thrown out of a hole, beat-up and dirty. Lucy focused.

_Spirits, I need your power..._ she prayed. _I can't lose to Damien... lend me your power. _

The air around Lucy moved, spinning around her, making her hair dance. Her hands started to glow. She'd been working on this for a long time, but the move so far had only lasted a few seconds before sputtering out. She'd thought of it in mind that her physical attacks were much weaker than Gray, Erza's, and Natsu's, so she had practiced the attack, storing her energy in her hands, upping her game in physical attacks.

It had to work.

The light flickered more strongly, released from her hands, and she jumped forwards. Her made a wild leap for Damien, and caught him in the stomach. He stared at her face-to-face before the impact made him fly back. He was obviously hurt, but he had a smirk on his face, skidding back on his heels.

He prepared another attack but someone burst through the doors. Lucy glanced behind her, hoping it wasn't a helpless passerby, but she almost shouted her relief. Gajeel, Levy, and Wendy, of all people, had come in. Of course, Lucy lost her focus and crumpled to the ground, the adrenaline leaving her and her Magic drained. The light from her hands flickered and died.

"Eric!" Damien called. The Aera mage looked behind him, but kept an eye on Erza. "we're leaving."

Before any of them could attack, Eric swooped, picking up Damien's jacket, and lifted them both in the air. Gajeel, understanding the situation, Roared at the duo. Eric dived, the scraps whizzing above his head, and the Breath Attack blew a hole in the wall.

"Thanks for the exit!" Eric called. Damien threw something to the ground, something small and white, and Eric blasted off. Lucy struggled to stand, going to chase after them, but fell again. She cursed.

"I let them get away..."

* * *

**I am so, so incredibly sorry for making you wait this long. Gomenisai! *bows repetitively* stupid writers block... I've had so much trouble with this chapter for some reason! ARG! [Plus I had my cousins over, and I've been busy..!] But, I really liked the way it turned out. I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL COME OUT SOON! I HAVE GREAT IDEAS AND HELL NO, IT AIN'T GONNA BE WRITER'S BLOCKED. *sighs,* okay, i'm done now. **

**Good news! [possibly bad news however you look at it,] i'm going on a trip East of where I live, [going on a plane for the first time! whoo! {Natsu: Bleh.}] and FireFlies, [if everything goes as planned,] will be done by then. I want to finish it by then, but i'm not gonna rush or anything ad come out with crappy chapters. I'm starting a new series, The Chances, so if you want to swing by and look at that too! FIREFLIES WILL ALWAYS BE MY FIRST PIORITY. **

**now, for my awesome reviewers! :3 [finally!] **

**Jenny: I am so sorry for now posting sooner! I deserve Punishment! [Virgo anyone?] thank you! I was hoping for a little more fluff, and actually the plot started out much different than this! but, i'm happy with it and am glad you like it too! thank you for reviewing! 3 **

**Princess: Aye! thank you! i'm sorry for not posting sooner... I've betrayed you all... T^T **

**The Guest: thank you! [took me awhile to figure that one out...] **

**Ryuu: thank you for reviewing! [I understand what you said, luckily...] **

**HiroMashima p: I can't decide if you're the real-deal or not... i'm confused. does Hiro/you even speak English? but anyways, thank you for reminding me to add the DISCLAIMER... I always forget to put them on... hehehe... **

**Panda: I wouldn't say perfect... *blushes* thank you though for reviewing! **

**DYENI!: yes, i'm so sorry for posting late... I've disappointed you all... *sobs* are you satisfied with the battle? I added a cute moment in it all too! thank you for helping me out. [for the clothes, surprisingly it was harder to write about the guy's tuxes than the girls dresses. ima girl, so i'm more accustomed to a dress, you know? I don't even know how to tie a tie.] yes, I would like to thank Happy for going in my place that day. I gave him lots of fish.**

**Review?**


	14. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fairy Tail. I wish I did. That'd be awesome. **

* * *

"Lu-chan!" Levy and Pantherlily ran up to her. "What happened?" she demanded, looking at the damage. The bookworm searched her limbs for major cut's or burns. Unfortunately, there was a burn of her arm, and it stung, but she didn't worry about it too much.

"Damien and Eric... led us here... trap, set up..." The Celestial mage breathed heavily, "attacked... Natsu couldn't move..."

"Okay, stop, stop. Tell me when you can actually talk." Levy smiled tightly, helping her up to stumble next to the collected guild members. The black Exceed followed over their shoulders. Wendy was healing Kura, Gray, the Exceeds, and Ren, who were blasted unconscious, and Erza who had collapsed as soon as Eric left, but Gajeel refused to pick up an angry unmoving Natsu in the corner. Lucy winced, but got back up on her feet, hobbling slowly towards him. She wouldn't leave Salamander alone.

Levy watched interestingly as her friend got up and walked towards Natsu, her steps tentative like a first-time walker. Eventually, she fell on her knees in front of him. The Dragon Slayer's eye softened and he reached a hand out to grip her wrist reassuringly.

"You're an idiot," he mumbled, trying to pull himself up. Once Wendy made sure everyone was in a safe state, she moved to Natsu, pushing him lightly back down again. Charle followed disapprovingly.

"You're lucky I know the counter to this spell Natsu-san," The blue haired Dragon Slayer said. "or you'd have to wait another ten minutes before you could move." her hands glowed softly, emitting a white light, and Natsu relaxed. He shifted comfortably, feeling spreading through his limbs again. The white Exceed 'hphm'-ed.

She pulled her hands away, and Natsu struggled onto his elbows. "All right!" he punched the air. The discomfort was all gone. Lucy smiled at him, glad he was okay.

* * *

Kura woke up behind her, bolting upright and flinching as her sides stung. Everything hurt, especially her face. She felt it shyly and winced. There were several half-healed burn marks on her features, and they stung. She looked around, eyes fixing on Ren's unmoving form. Her eyes widened and she scrambled up to him.

Gajeel moved up behind her, watching her for a few moments before saying something. "Don't worry. Your Mate's fine, just needs to wake up. He got a bit of a startle, nothing that time won't heal." She pouted, but once she was sure that he wasn't hurt too badly, pulled back. There was a flash of angry Dragon frustration and guilt. Seeing her Mate hurt was a big blow for her pride. Dragon Slayers needed to protect their Mates, even if they were perfectly fine on their own, instincts would never leave them out of sight for too long.

"So, why are you here Gajeel?" she said, an unusual snap in her voice.

"I'm here cause I can." He growled. Kura smirked.

"Looking out for your Mate and little sister, eh? So the mighty Gajeel has a soft spot for them?" she said it quietly enough that Levy or even Wendy wouldn't hear it. The Iron Dragon Slayer turned a bright shade of red.

"No." He denied, and then shook his head. "Yeah, okay, whatever. I'm dropping it." She smirked in her victory; Ren's hurt making her slightly careless otherwise and therefore cocky. Gajeel scowled, not bothering to fight with her in case she exploded.

_Mate+ hurt= Angry, possibly rampaging Dragon Slayer_, Gajeel thought. He had a secret way of classifying Dragon Slayers with injured Mates. Brooding, Temperamental, Mopey, and Testy. The type that thinks all day, the short tempered, the sad guy in the corner, and the one who loses all care for crap thrown at them.

So far he'd classified Salamander as Temperamental, at least until he took whoever hurt Lucy, head's, then he'd go Mopey. Wendy, by the looks of it, was going to be a Mopey also, even though he wasn't sure who her Mate was; she was too young, but the Iron Dragon Slyer had an idea of just who it could be. Kura was definitely a Testy, her usual politeness replaced with rude comments. He himself was a tempermental brooder, if Levy got hurt he would snap at anyone that disturbed his thinking. [Not much different than his usual behaviour though.]

Lucy, on the other side of the room, finally having enough energy for her legs to stop shaking with Wendy's healing, got up and picked up the object Damien threw down on the floor. It was a note card. She scowled, but unfolded it. She read it, and her eyes widened.

There were only six words printed on it. 'MEET ME UNDER THE SAKURA TREE.'

It took her a few moments to get her voice back. "Guys... They're heading for Magnolia." Everyone's heads whipped around to stare at her. She reread the card. "It says, 'meet me under the sakura tree.'" The one Natsu uprooted for me when I was sick. It's in Magnolia Park." The members of the conscious group thought about what that meant.

"But, why would they go there? The entire FairyTail guild is there. There's no way they can fight them all and win." Wendy thought.

Lucy's eyes widened. "They can't be..." she shook at the thought. "What if they're... trying to get rid of the guild? They're trying to hurt every memory of Natsu and I, and the guild... is one of them. They're trying to hurt us, and that's the only thing I can think of that would in Magnolia."

They all stopped. "We'll have to go quickly then. Salamander, since you're fine now, you carry Icicle, and I'll carry Ren. Kura and Bunny-girl, you'll carry Erza. Shrimp, take the Exceeds." Gajeel said. They moved to do so, [Natsu grumbling under his breath,] and started heading out. Luckily, no one remained after the warning shots explosions, and it seemed that the princess and fiancée were evacuated.

They had to walk to the nearest town, and make a break for it to get on the train before it departed. Gray woke up sometime between there and then, but Ren and Erza were still unconscious. Once the group was on board, they sat down.

"Hey, Dragon Slayers, we need to talk," Gajeel announced. They looked at him, the slightly sick iron mage, in surprise. "And Tiny needs to do the damned Trioa on us." Three out of four Dragon Slayers were panting by the windows. Luckily for her, Wendy's motion sickness hadn't kicked in yet, but they weren't sure if that was from age or she was a Healing mage.

"Do... I come?" Kura asked sickly. She was and kinda wasn't a Dragon Slayer, since she didn't know up about a month ago, and she wasn't raised by a Dragon [she'd been focusing on learning the extent of her power's since she'd known,] but she wasn't sure to come or not.

"Yeah, whatever."

Wendy ran around, performing the Trioa, and they walked to an empty compartment, no longer barfing all over. Natsu and Kura sighed in relief, but Gajeel stayed tense, like always.

"Okay, we have business to talk about." Gajeel said. He usually wasn't one to talk much, but this concerned all of them.

"Surprisingly, the newest Dragon Slayer is the only one's who's actually claimed her Mate. This annoys me, but I'm asking you, FlameHead, why the hell haven't you claimed yours. You said you were gonna tell her eventually." He was talking about a conversation that they had a while ago, before Natsu had lost his memories.

* * *

_"Hey, MetalHead?" Natsu approached the Iron Dragon Slayer, an unusual look of thoughtfulness on his face. _

_ "Salamander." the gruff voice answered. _

_ "I uh, need to talk to... you about something. I can't ask anyone else." _

_ "Yeah, and?" _

_ Natsu seemed reluctant. "Well, I've been dating Lucy for three weeks now, and I kinda—" _

_ "Please don't say want to pop the question." Gajeel wrinkled his nose. _

_ "What question?" the Iron Dragon Slayer facepalmed at the Salamander's stupidity. _

_ "Never mind. Go on."_

_ "Well, I've kinda wanted to know, is it usual to be... feel..." he hit his head, confused about how to say it. Gajeel stared at him, but then his face gained a knowing, coy grin. "Well, I want to... arg!" he gave up, hitting his head against the wall repetitively. _

_ "I don't know, damnit!" he cried out. _

_ Gajeel sighed. Sometimes being the oldest Dragon Slayer was hard. "You want to Mark your Mate." Natsu stopped hitting his head against the wall and stared at him, wide-eyed. _

_ "What?" _

_ "Sit down, Salamander. I'll explain to you, even if it's gonna come to you eventually..."_

* * *

"So, why haven't you done that yet!" he barked. "You need to get your priorities straight. You're gonna feel restless until you claim her."

"But I don't know... Lucy isn't my Mate." He winced and Gajeel caught onto that.

"Dude, Lisanna 'broke up' with you. Those fake memories are messing with your head. Follow your damned instincts, however crappy they are." The Iron Dragon Slayer air quoted and wrinkled his nose. "great," he mumbled under his breath, "now I sound all cheesy." Too many cliché romance rantings from Levy.

Natsu looked uncomfortable. He couldn't leave because he was sandwiched between Kura and the wall. "but... I'm not sure." Gajeel's red eyes bored holes into him.

"you're an idiot." Kura cried, jumping into the conversation, tapping him on the nose. "Lucy loves you, you love her, now make up and kiss already! You've been doing it non-stop for a month now! Seriously, you've been grossing out Gray and he's been doing nothing since you two have started dating but ranting about it, and I kept on ranting about Gray's ranting, and everyone else's ranting because someone else is! We all know the truth, you love Lucy!" she stopped, looking at his face, shocked into silence.

It was unsure, and Natsu hated to be unsure of anything, especially his nakama. Here they were, screaming the truth, but he wasn't sure it was the truth because he remembered differently. He felt like he was on a rapidly melting piece of ice, and a pirate ship was handing him a rope, but he wasn't sure to remain there or risk it on the ship. He bowed his head, holding it up with his hands. He didn't know what to think anymore.

"I know you don't remember it, but Lucy will do anything to protect you." Kura started out softer, but was interrupted by Gajeel.

"Hell, you even fought me when we kidnapped her back in Phantom Lord. You would do anything for her."

Wendy piped in. "she wouldn't move, risking her own life to make sure you didn't die back there. Static Stillness works on Static Magic, the ability to bent static and electricity to your will, and another blast move would have charged the Stillness and overloaded your body. The chances of you not being killed instantly would have been slim. Lucy-san saved your life." She pointed out.

Gajeel sighed. "We're gonna play a little game. Natsu, imagine Titania died in battle. What would you do?"

Natsu looked up, and thought for a moment, not really sure what to think. "Well, she's one of my best friends... I would be sad and maybe cry about it."

"What about a year later?"

He didn't know where this was going. "I'd live my life to the fullest in her honor, because that's what Erza would want me to do."

"What about if Lisanna died?" Instantly, with just the thought of it, he turned sad.

"I'd be really sad..."

"in a few years?"

"I'd still be sad, but the same thing."

"Now what about if Bunny-girl died?" he thought about it for a moment. No more blonde in his life. Even worse, he thought about her being killed in battle. Suddenly, he ached. There was a pain in Natsu's chest and he resisted trying clutch his heart or double over. There was pain in his onyx eyes, his brow furrowed together. Kura and Wendy watched with interest as his face twisted into a grimace. He wiped the thoughts from his head quickly.

"I-I think... I wouldn't make it a week," he said truthfully. Gajeel leaned back in satisfaction.

"That's the Mate game. Even the thought of your Mate leaving your life can make you sick and very depressed.

Kura smirked, still in her cocky mood. "So, Gajeel, what would happen if Levy died?" the Iron Dragon Slayer glared at her murderously, leaping on her and starting another FairyTail fight. Luckily, the stalls were big, giving them room to fly punches and kicks.

"Bring it on MetalHead!" Kura snarled.

Gajeel, also in a cold-blooded haze, smirked. "What you got, Fluffy?" Kura launched herself at him, and they disappeared in a cloud of debris, the occasional iron foot, glowing hand, or disgruntled head sticking out.

Wendy was surprised because Kura never got into a fight at FairyTail, but turned back to Natsu. "Either way, you're just confused," Wendy said in a timid voice. "You need some time to think on it?" the Fire Dragon Slayer nodded and stood up.

"The Trioa will be good for another twenty minutes, so be back by then." He nodded curtly and went further into the train.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Gajeel. He broke apart from Kura, panting heavily, cheeks blowing up when the train rumbled. "Crap!" Kura pulled back, seeing his state of distress, and the Trioa faded for her too.

Wendy in the background smiled sheepishly and sweatdropped. "They must have a natural barrier against the Trioa..." she muttered, watching the two on the ground trying not to barf.

* * *

Natsu was in the last cart, a storage cart seemingly transporting merchandise. He was in the corner, squeezed between the wall and a box, where he wouldn't be found. He ignored it though, too lost in thought.

_Do I love her, or am I just protective because she's my nakama, can I trust instincts, is all this Damien's memories messing with me, are they still working, is all this confusing, yes, yes it is, what time is it should I go back because the Trioa will fade, why are there so many questions!_

He shook his head, trying to shake off some thoughts too. He was overwhelmed by everything, who to trust, who to listen too...

_Okay..._ he relaxed a bit. _Start off with one thing_. It was a trick Erza taught when he felt confused.

_Am I being messed up because of the new memories_? It didn't feel like it, but he had been acting snappish, he guessed. And there was the whole, I-replaced-Lucy'-memories-with-Lisanna, which was getting confusing for him.

_Can I trust instincts_? Well, they weren't telling him anything right now, he shouldn't go chasing after... whoever was his Mate, so he'll be fine.

_Do I love Lucy? _

The hardest question of all.

He thought about her, just her for a moment. He decided to think like a man [as Elfman and Gray would always say around other women and him,] and try to appreciate a woman's body. Honestly he couldn't give a crap, it was what they had _inside_ that counted to him, but he thought nothingless.

_Well, I guess she had a good body..?_ she did have a lot of curves. And that shiny golden blonde hair that did look smooth. And he guessed that he enjoyed the big bright brown colour of her eyes. It reminded him of chocolate, and he really liked chocolate.

_Celestial Spirit mages..._ he did remember Angel, and somewhat the Duke of Everlue, who he/she'd fought with... he didn't know, but he remembered fighting with Lisanna, but he guessed that he actually fought with Lucy. [_This memory thing was hard_, he thought.] But both enemy mages were jerks. Lucy fought with her spirits and didn't stand behind them. He appreciated that.

_But do I actually like her?_

He didn't have much time to think about it; he looked up as the door slid open.

"Natsu?" he winced. It was Lucy. Her footsteps echoed through the compartment, and finally her head poked through the gap.

"Natsu! What are you doing down there?" her chocolate eyes were wide.

"Brooding," he replied sarcastically. _Of all people..! _The girl frowned at him.

"Hey, what's wrong? You never mope like this." Her expression turned sour, but the Celestial Spirit mage inched into the crevice and sat down next to him in the dark.

"You can probably guess," he admitted, burrowing his face further into his scarf. Lucy looked at him sympathetically.

"Yeah, we both know by now." she didn't bother indicating what they knew. "And it's no bother lying. I'm sorry for not telling you before. Maybe I was selfish keeping the truth from you." He looked up in slight surprise, even in the dark noticing her slightly crimson cheeks. She continued, "And I'm sorry for putting so much pressure on you. I didn't mean to react so much."

"No, I understand." Lucy glanced over at him, mouth upturned.

"Just like you," she said. "To forgive someone in an instant." He flinched, but the girl settled down. "so, what's on your mind?"

The Dragon Slayer hesitated. There was silence for a few moments.

Lucy looked over at him. "You don't have to tell me if you're not ready."

"No, no... it's not that, just..." he bit his lip. "I'm sure Kura's already told you. About the Mating business." She nodded slowly.

"It's... difficult," was all he said. Silence filled the air once again.

"Well, if you need someone to talk to, we can chat as friends." She chose her words carefully, but let a smile grace her lips. Natsu looked over at her, shook his head, and grinned.

"Sure. Same for you."

She smiled widely, but Natsu had a thought. "Hey, how'd you find me?"

"I had to go to the bathroom and saw you exit your stall. I went and then followed you here cause you looked kinda distressed." Natsu gave her a crooked smile.

The train rumbled, and the beam turned into a frown. His cheeks blew up, and he scrambled to his feet, hopping over Lucy awkwardly. Lucy was buffeted by the back of his vest, but the Dragon Slayer moved quickly, throwing the back door open. She blinked confusedly, and then the sound of retching met her ears. The Stellar Sprit mage smirked, but got up and followed the sick Dragon Slayer to the outside balcony.

She rubbed his back, sighing. "_Of_ course."

* * *

**hm... i'm feeling... meh. our water tank's broken, so we have no hot water. but, I got a good, full night's sleep. I was planning on posting this yesterday, but my mom told me I had to go to bed and I didn't have time to edit it. But, I got no reviews for my last chapter , so I don't have to do review replies... Well, either way, i'm just peachy. **

**...*awkward silence*... **

***cough* **

**...well... review maybe? **


	15. Chapter 14

**I don't own Fairy Tail. I wish. [maybe for Christmas Mashima-sensei?]**

* * *

After Lucy carried Natsu back to the group, she'd collapsed in one of the free seats left for her, and the rest of the Dragon Slayers. She was so tired...

Natsu fell unconscious instantly, slumping over and hitting Lucy in the face with his shoulder. She cried out, holding her nose and glared at the two people, Erza and Gray, who were smirking. Lucy pushed Natsu off, setting him down in his own spot.

"Stop staring at me." she narrowed her eyes at the dark bluenet and redhead. They looked away innocently, although the grins wouldn't wipe off their faces. With a fatigued huff, Lucy leaned to the side, so tired she couldn't muster enough energy to complain.

Her eyes fluttered shut and her breathing slowed.

* * *

_She first sensation she felt; she couldn't breathe. _

_ Lucy opened her eyes, looking around at the dark space she was in. It was like a small box, her limbs couldn't spread out, and so they were tucked close to her. The air inside the box was thin, so very thin; her lungs seemed to be choking in on herself. Her eyes widened, frantically looking for an exit before she suffocated. _

_ Looking up, she saw a thin, tiny crack of light. It looked like sunlight._

_ She reached up, but then hesitated. Something told her she never wanted to open the door. Ever. This box was protecting her, even though she was trapped, and she felt like she couldn't breathe, if she went outside something horrible would happen. _

_ Something very bad indeed. _

_ So Lucy settled down, pulling her arms in. She knew this was a dream, so she would wake up eventually, right? She was perfectly fine, as long as she didn't move out of this box. Lucy looked around, inspecting the box she was stuck in. _

_ The walls were painted black, she noted, and made her limbs, through the thin crack of light, seem more defined. She blinked when she realized; these weren't _her_ limbs. They were much more muscled; thick and sturdy and slightly tanned. _

_ She looked around, noting her chest was flat, not... curvy. She was wearing a familiar black with golden edged vest and baggy trousers. Plus a scaly white scarf was wrapped around her neck. Startled, she looked at her right [extremely muscled, she thought cheerily,] shoulder. On there, was a red marking, almost like a tattoo. Lucy smiled, [possibly grinned, she couldn't tell] thinking, 'hey, I'm Natsu!' _

_ The problem was her/his FairyTail stamp was blurry. She never would have thought her dreams putting Natsus stamp blurry; it was such a part of him that a _Natsu_ without _FairyTail_ wouldn't exist. Lucy didn't think about it too much though, as it was a dream and nothing would really matter once she woke up. _

_ But curiously, she held up her/his index finger, and tried lighting it up, seeing if his powers worked in her dream. At first, it did nothing but spark, and then her digit released a bonfire. She yelped and covered it, patting out the flames that caught on the box. The box was protecting her/him/them..! Bah, she was getting confused..._

_ Either way, she patted out the flames, making sure there were no burnt holes in the box. It was a really fragile thing, this box that was protecting herself from... whatever was outside._

_ She sighed, curiosity fading and she was wondering when this dream was gonna end. Lucy, in Natsu's body, slumped in the corner, extremely uncomfortable. She was wondering what was on the exterior, but the wary side of her stopped herself from going. Lucy wouldn't go outside._

_ But of course, she couldn't help but having doubts. She would have been sure Natsu could protect himself from whatever it was on the exterior of this box, she thought. _I mean, Natsu's super powerful, and could sure beat whatever was outside.

_ Suddenly, the box shook. Lucy was thrown across the box, tumbling and rolling. She cried out, but her [what felt like too large,] hands flew over her mouth, knowing that she couldn't make a sound. "Hey, did you hear that?" someone, outside the box, asked. It sounded suspiciously like Gray. _

_ "Hear what?" _Erza?

_ The person, Lucy now assumed was Gray, shook the box again, making her squawk, despite herself. She vowed not to make another embarrassing noise again. "Hey, I did hear it. But you should stop shaking that box. There might be an animal stuck in there." _I'm not an animal!_, Lucy wanted to cry out in indignation._

_ "But why is there so much Magical tape stuck on here?" Gray asked, shuffling it around. Lucy was thrown all over the place. She was sure she was going to make Natsu's body bruised black and blue soon, even if it was just a dream. _

_ "I said stop it!" Erza declared. There was the sound of metal scraping against metal, the sound of her Requipping Magic, and the outside Ice mage dropped the box, landing on the ground with a thud. Lucy winced as Gray cried out._

_ "You have to be careful... and not drop it!" she snapped. "I wonder if I can cut off this tape." For a moment, the tiny crack of light dulled, and something moved across it. It looked pointy. "nope." The Requip mage said, sounding slightly downcast._

_ "Hey guys! What's up?" Lucy's eyes widened. It sounded like _her_, Lucy Heartfilia. Something inside Natsu stirred uncomfortably._

_ "Hey Lucy. We found this box, and we think something might be inside it. But we can't open it." Gray explained. _

_ "I can summon Taurus and ask him to cut it in half." Lucy said. _

_ "No!" they both cried. _

_ "No, Lucy, we think there might be an animal inside. We heard noises coming from inside this box." Erza explained._

_ 'Lucy' hrm-ed. "Could I try opening it?" Lucy, for some reason, was _very_ against herself opening the box. Gray handed her the it, to Lucy's despair, there was an unsettling motion, and something passed over the crack again. The crack started widening, and Natsu/Lucy tried to press against the walls of the box in fear. There was something scary on the other of the box, and the BOX WAS OPENING. _

_ To her surprise, the walls softened, almost turning into putty, and Natsu's arm's started sinking in. Lucy was happy at first, this meant the people outside couldn't get her, but was soon filled with a sense of dread. The goop was black, and oozed over her limbs, radiating a feeling of despair and utter hopelessness. Slowly, Natsu was being sucked in, but she struggled against it. _

_ "Hey!" a brown eye peered into the box. "There's a person!" Natsu/Lucy's orbs widened, and she struggled more, wondering who to be more afraid of. The goop was almost to her elbows now; she definitely couldn't actually get anywhere if she tried. But she still did. _

_ The brown eye moved back, and the big Lucy noticed that Natsu was sinking. "Hey, do you need help?" Natsu shook his/her head. _

_ Big Lucy chuckled. "You're stubborn." Fingers reached into the box. Natsu's pupils dilated, his breathing turned heavy. She felt them wrapping around her waist, and with a pop, she was lifted out of the box._

* * *

"No!" Lucy's eyes opened, bolting upright.

She looked around, and then down; she was in her own body, nice and safe on the train. Lucy sighed in relief.

It wasn't a scary dream, just one to be nervous about. Strangely, instead of fading to the recesses of her mind, the dream stayed firmly in place, every detail of it remaining sharply in her memory. Lucy swallowed, but leaned back again.

She noticed something, face turning a brilliant shade of crimson. Natsu was lying on her lap. Practically drooling; but that wasn't the point. He looked comfortable, _too_ comfortable for her liking, hands cradling his head on her legs. She flushed.

She didn't want to wake him up, he did look peaceful and quite comfortable and the last time she tried that _she got a giant bruise on her face for weeks_, so she embarrassingly leaned back and attempted to calm her pounding heartbeat. His warmth was soothing, she did admit, but his weight on her legs was not. But if Lucy moved then Natsu could crash to the floor.

Oh well, _I can say I was asleep_. Lucy put her head back and moved her legs to the right; Natsu woke up in a start as his head banged on the [luckily,] carpeted floor. "Aye!" he demanded, looking around accusingly.

Everyone was asleep. Natsu narrowed his eyes, but sat back down on his sea and tried to calm down so he could fall asleep quickly. The train was still moving, but Natsu fought to urge to barf.

Natsu, luckily for him, his amazing collapsing abilities worked; a few minutes later he'd fallen asleep again.

A few other minutes later, Gray's eye peeped open. Putting a grin on his face, he moved to slouch Natsu over, so he was resting on Lucy's lap again, and even daring [knowing Lucy was a much lighter sleeper than FlameBrain,] dared putting her hand on his head, moving a few pink locks of hair so that they were resting between her fingertips.

Lucy opened an accusing eye at him, startling Gray into silence. _Crap_, was all that he had time to think, before she dragged him off by the ear to a private section of the train, waking up everyone else [except Natsu,] in the process.

Months after that, there were many rumors passed around that the train to Magnolia from Aceto's castle was haunted; if you _dared_ listen hard enough, you could hear the tortured screams of a murdered man in the back cart, and the high-pitched laughter of an evil, twisted old lady.

* * *

**YAY! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! 50 REVIEWS! WHOO! *falls back, dies* I love you all. I really do. *hugs for everyone!***

**So, this was a little bit of a filler chapter, but if you can interpret the dream than that's good! [Anyone wanna try? I was aiming for something specific.] Either way, I wanted to post early in celebration once I hit fifty. CONGRADULATIONS **Nee san **for being the 50th reviewer, *cheers* but I have to thank you all! *wipes eyes furiously* "THANK YOU! X50, one for each of you." **

**To my especially awesome reviewers! [cause you're all awesome,]**

**#46= ihearteverything33: Why wouldn't I do a review reply? ;3 I was hoping for some stress in the story, but I wanted some cute moments too. Here's your update! 3 **

**#47= My awesome Dyeni: Oh, don't worry about it. Computer problems, bleh. I thought Fluffy was a great Gajeel-nickname for Kura. [FLUFF! Don't we all love fluff? *sighs happily*] **

**#48=FairyTailADDICT: Giihee [bad Gajeel impression,] Thanks! Although, I'm pretty good at drawing, but I certainly couldn't draw like Hiro Mashima. [our hero...] :3 Thank you for reviewing! **

**#49= Panda: Thank you! I hope this chapter is satisfactory for you! **

**#50= and finally... *drumroll*... Nee san!: Aw, thank you for reviewing! congratulations on being reviewee #50! ;3**

**ReViEw? It's helps me type up things faster! And we're nearly hitting the climax, people! Whoo hoo!**


	16. Chapter 15

The announcer spoke. "Everyone on the stop to Magnolia, please get your luggage and prepare for stopping." Everyone in the group, Team Kura, Team Natsu, the four Exceeds, and Levy, Gajeel, and Wendy, was already up and waiting to burst out the doors.

Even the huffing, puffing Dragon Slayers were there, waiting for the train to halt. There was a screeching noise and everyone held on to something [except Natsu who tumbled further into the vehicle,] to stop themselves.

Lucy took command. "Erza, Gray, Levy, Ren, Exceeds, go to the Guild and evacuate everyone. The Dragon Slayers and I will go to Magnolia Park and defeat Damien and Eric once and for all." Everyone nodded with the plan. Gray and Natsu bro-fisted one another quickly, Happy smiling at the pink-haired pyromaniac, while Erza and Lucy met gazes, handing each other courage. Pantherlily shook hands with Gajeel, grinning at the other, and Ren kissed Kura's cheek and gave her a final glance before turning around and running with the group.

Lucy, Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, and Kura bolted in the opposite direction, running to the center of town; Magnolia Park. it was only sunrise and yet the crowds were thick, so Gajeel and Natsu jumped along the buildings. Kura, thinking of a great idea, lit her hands warningly, splitting the people while Lucy ran behind her. Wendy Sky Dragon Roared the ground, propelling herself into the air and landing on the rooftops running next to her not-by-blood brothers.

Finally, the group stopped, standing at the edge of Magnolia Park, the buildings and road stopping suddenly, meeting lush green grass. The park was empty. The Dragon Slayers sniffed the air once, and then, in one swift move, Gajeel picked up the Sky Dragon Slayer and leaped off the building, Natsu following not a split-second later.

The rooftop exploded in a burst of yellow sparks.

Kura raised her hands and created a thin barrier of purple energy, covering over the startled group and any unfortunate passerby. The debris hit the barrier, making the Energy Dragon Slayer grunt, but bounced off. Any remaining non-mages fled, leaving the Fairies on their own.

Kura moved her hands to the right, and the barrier faded. She grit her teeth [she was fairly new to her powers,] but stood up proudly, wielding her sword. The Dragon Slayers and Lucy waited for their enemy to attack, as taunt as a bowstring, prepared to leap at a moment's notice.

Chuckling laughter echoed throughout the building, making the Slayer's, with their sensitive hearing, wince and hold their ears. Lucy's eyes darted around, trying to find Damien or Eric.

"Hello Fairies." Damien's voice echoed through the boulevard. With the noise bouncing around, it was impossible to determine where the voice was coming from.

"Here to take us down?" Eric appeared, carrying Damien, flying over the sun, casting a brilliant shadow on the ground. He hovered there, but dropped Damien, him landing on his feet on a rooftop. With the low-hanging sunrise, their shadows were long and haunting.

"Thanks for coming, Dragon Slayers, Heartfilia."

"We're here to fight you. Beat us, and we'll go to jail and hand Natsu's memories back to you willingly." Eric taunted.

"Lose, and Natsu's memories will not last another minute, and your whole guild goes 'capoot'." The group on the ground frowned.

"Whaddu' mean 'capoot'?" Lucy asked, eyes widening.

* * *

Ren, Erza, Gray, Levy, and the Exceeds were running for the guild, taking the fastest shortcut. Ren was in the back, keeping up with them next to Levy. The short girl was having issues keeping speed with the other mages, but Ren stayed next to her. The mage and non-mage moved through the crowd, the bookworm creating the word PATH in the air, making people push over. She shouted "sorry" a lot, passing by. "it's an emergency!"

They finally reached the guild, panting. Erza, Gray, and the Exceeds reached first. "Everyone!" Erza cried. "Get out now! Damien and Eric are—" Ren and Levy finally reached the gates, and she was cut off because a sense in Titania's gut was tingling. It was similar to—

"Runes! She gasped, spinning around. As soon as Levy and Ren burst in, they were thrown forward, and a blue barrier rose up from the ground. Erza Requipped into her Black Wing Armour, rising up to reach the top, hoping at least she could get out, but the Runes closed, so she smashed against it, face-first. She took her sword, seeing if she could make a gap, but she simply created sparks.

"Levy!" She snarled, indicating the Solid Script mage, "come here!" Levy and Ren were quickly checked on by the other Fairies, who had just understood the situation. Other than a few bruises that might appear, they would be fine. The tiny blue-haired mage scrambled up, already knowing what Erza would want her to do.

"Where's Fried?" Erza demanded, waiting for the green-haired Runes mage to push out from the crowd.

"He's not here. He went on a mission with the Thunder God Tribe." Droy said nervously. Erza roared her frustration, turning to Levy.

"Can we get out?" Levy inspected the words written on the barrier. Instead of Fried's green Runes, they were blue, Levy thought of how Eric's wings glowed softly with a pale sky-coloured light, similar to these words.

"They were written by Eric," the blue-haired mage stated. Luckily, it was in a simple ancient text, one easy for Levy to read. "It says, NO MAGE BELONGING TO AN OFFICIAL GUILD CAN PASS THESE RUNES, NOR ANY SORT OF MAGIC CAN BE USED INSIDE. THESE WILL ACTIVATE ONCE LEVY MCGARDEN-" she blushed from embarrassment, "PASSES THE BARRIER FROM THE OUTSIDE, AND WILL DETONATE—" her eyes widened, "—WILL... DETONATE IN THIRTY MINUTES..."

"Is there anything you can do to change these runes so at least one of us can pass?" Erza demanded.

Levy swallowed, trying to regain her composure. "Well, the problem is these are Simple Runes. Instead of a long list of Rules that you cannot break, like Fried's Runes, these are simple and the rules are all-around. They're much harder to find a loop-hole in. If Fried suddenly came on the outside, he could easily Dispel these Runes from the exterior, but until then... only until Eric is defeated will the Runes fade." Erza paled.

"So if Lucy and the Dragon Slayers can't defeat Eric and Damien in time... then we'll all blow?" Ren asked in the background nervously. Levy nodded.

Erza took control. "Everyone who can use Defense Magic—"

Levy interrupted her, shaking her head. "No Magic can be used inside this barrier, it says. We're all powerless." At that moment, Erza's Black Wing Armor faded, leaving her in her regular Heartz Kreuze Armour.

"Crap." Was all Titania said.

* * *

"Whaddu' mean, Capoot?" Lucy asked, eyes widening.

Eric chuckled. "The day before you found out Natsu's memories were gone, I placed Runes on the outside of your Guild. We estimated that Gajeel, being strong, Wendy, having her Healing Magic, and Levy, because Lucy's her best friend, would leave the guild to chase after you. I put my Runes so that once Levy, the shortest and slowest one of your group, passed the gates of the guild, the Runes would activate, trapping everyone inside."

"Damn you..!" Natsu flung himself at Eric, swinging a fist, but Eric flew up into the air. Natsu put a fire-boost in his step, snarling, but Eric dodged his straight-forward flight, smirking. "and so—" the Aera mage stopped momentarily to dodge a Fire Dragon's Roar, "—I set the Runes so if you don't defeat us in thirty minutes, your whole Guild will detonate with the Magic left over in these Runes."

Natsu landed on the ground, very mad. Fire flowed up his body, coating his limbs with burning inferno, and he launched himself at Eric one more time. Damien watched the spectacle.

'Hey, stop your staring and get Old Dude." Gajeel muttered, jolting Lucy, Kura, and Wendy out of their stupor. "Wendy, go for Eric. I'll go with you." Wendy smiled, giving them one last look before the two Dragon Slayers jumped for the Aera mage. Gajeel pushed Natsu towards Kura and Lucy, before sending a burst of shrapnel at Eric. It proved harder than the little mage thought to dodge though, because Wendy followed, the Breath Attack missing him, but the disturbances in the air making him fly into Gajeel's attack. Eventually he regained his balance, holding his cut arm but smirking.

"So we're together." Natsu said, grinning. Lucy smiled back at him and wielded one of her keys.

"Open, Gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio!" The pink-haired boy lit up his hands along with Kura, flames and light swirling around closed fists, and Scorpio appeared next to Lucy.

"Now!"

Natsu, Kura, and Lucy's whip launched towards Damien, and he jumped back, lightening crackling in his palms. He blasted a beam at Natsu, making the boy swerve, but Kura was there to hit him in the face. Damien winced, pulling his attention on Kura, blocking her next attack swiftly. The Energy Dragon Slayer grinned, and her hands sparked.

Damien's face pulled into a frown, and he was blasted back. He howled, but caught up on his feet. Natsu rushed past the other Dragon Slayer, trying to regain her strength for a moment. Scorpio put himself in front of her, protecting her for the split seconds she needed as Lucy flew past, following Natsu.

The Celestial Spirit mage bolted behind Damien, who was busy meeting hand-to-foot with Natsu, crying, "Open, Gate of the Bull, Taurus!" Damien spun around, but, too late, he was hit with the side of Taurus's axe, crushing the air out of him. The older man flew back, landing on the ground. The three mages stared down at him.

Damien twitched, and Scorpio blasted him with compacted sand. Despite that, the man got up, holding his arms across his face, trying to regain his composure.

"Fire Dragon's roar!" Natsu cried. Damien was engulfed in flames, and the sand surrounding his feet crystallized, tuning hard. The pyromaniac stopped his attack, and Scorpio disappeared. Taurus waited obediently behind Lucy, for once not making a perverted comment about her assets.

Damien looked down once he realized he couldn't move his legs. There were several burn marks on his body, mostly on his face and arms, but the sand from Scorpio's attack had crystallised under the heat of Natsu's attack. He tried to pull out, but his legs wouldn't move. Snarling to himself, Damien bent down, and with a crackle, the glass exploded, sharp shards of glass cutting through his skin, but he stood up, perfectly fine other than that.

This time, it was him making the first move, launching himself at Kura, and the girl made a quick, flickering shield to stop him from hitting her. It was weak though, and when Damien pressed up against it, the barrier shattered. The man smirked, putting one hand on her chest, and the girl screamed, surrounded by yellow energy. Despite that, she tried eating as much as she could, wincing.

"Kura!" Natsu cried, going to aid his friend. He tackled Damien away from her, the remaining sparks crackling into him, but he grit his teeth and flamed his body, kicking Damien aside. Kura flew back and smashed into the concrete.

"Don't you dare hurt our guild members!" Natsu roared, following after the man and punching him again. The silver-haired man snarled, making his hands light with yellow energy, and shot it at Natsu. He dodged, diving low and blasting Damien with a Breath attack.

"Lucy!" Natsu cried. Damien hung, suspended in the air for a moment, before Lucy's whip wrapped around his ankle. His eyes widened as he was tugged to the ground. He coughed and shuddered, but lit up his hands. Damien launched himself at the girl, but Lucy spun around him, doing the move that Natsu showed her when they were training together and pressed a finger to his back.

The man, startled and off-balance, landed face-first onto the rooftop. The Celestial Spirit mage couldn't help but giggle, tugging the man again so he flew up into the air. Damien snarled, putting his hands out, attempting to blast her, but Taurus deflected the move with his axe.

It was all the time she needed. "Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!" the ginger-haired Spirit appeared behind Damien, and punched him into the ground. Leo landed on the rooftop, on his two feet. He grinned at Lucy, sending her a wink. The girl rolled her eyes.

The man lay in a crater, seemingly unconscious. Lucy and Natsu, fatigued, panting, and low on Magic reserves, smiled tiredly at each other and fisted. "It's over. Good job." The pink-haired boy breathed.

"You did most of the work," she complimented breathily. "I just finished up." Natsu grinned, shaking his head, and swung her under his armpit, trapping her there and giving her a noogie. She squealed in protest, laughing.

"Hey!" she giggled.

There was a deep chuckle. Lucy, her Spirits and Natsu's head whipped towards the sound. "You think you've won?" sparking electricity formed around the supposedly unconscious Damien, and Natsu bowled Lucy over, taking the brunt of the attack sent at the duo. The Stellar Spirit mage's eyes widened.

"Natsu!" the blast faded, and Natsu fell, chin landing where her neck and shoulder met, but Lucy managed to catch him just in time. She looked around. Her spirits seemingly had also been hit by similar blasts. She was concerned for them, but they returned to the Spirit World. She was most concerned about Natsu.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" she screamed. His dull eyes flickered open.

"Can't have a... nakama hurt..." he moaned. "Should have been more on guard." he attempted to get up, but Lucy pushed him to the ground gently.

"Don't try then." She told him. "I can't have my partner dead, can I, you stupid idiot?" she tapped him on the nose. "I'm gonna handle this one."

Damien chuckled, moving out of the rubble. "Really, Lucy Heartfilia? I'd like to see you try."

"Challenge accepted." Lucy took her whip. "You're not Natsu, I don't mind hurting you. Actually, I'd enjoy it."

He smirked, hands crackling with energy. He flew at Lucy, but the girl made him change tracks with her FleuveEtoile. The crackling energy whizzed past him, but he grabbed onto it, to Lucy's surprise. She felt a tingling sensation, and her eyes widened.

Her mouth hung open and she almost bit off her lip trying not to scream. Blood soaked through Damien's hand and onto the sparking whip, and it was clearly hurting him, but something was desperately wrong with it. "Let's see who can last longer, Heartfilia." He tightened his grip on the whip and Lucy almost bit off her tongue, "whoever drops the whip... first." The man winced, but still smiled gruesomely.

Lucy, in very much pain, felt the crackling energy flow through her arm and through her body. Damien seemed pained also, holding onto the Magic of the FleuveEtoile. Lucy decided to weaken Damien with her own Magic, but Natsu was crying out for her in the background, naming every insult at her, every one along the lines of 'you shouldn't play a game with an enemy like this," and he stood up.

There was a roaring in her ears, a loud buzz that was getting louder and louder. Her vision was blurry, and she was tiring, but not daring to lose because then, _Natsu can step in and kick Damien's ass, I know Damien won't let go until he loses all his Magic or I fall unconscious, but I promise to FairyTail I won't_.

Finally, she was shoved aside, the break in concentration making her lose the grip on her FleuveEtoile. She cried out, but someone caught her before she hit the ground. She stared up at Natsu's intense gaze. "You are an idiot." He spat, pulling her up so she was on her feet again. "Trying to sacrifice your battle so we would finish the job easier." He glared at her from the corner of his eye.

"If we used to know each other, you know I hate the idea of sacrifice, so don't go trying it again." he told her sternly. She blinked, trying to steady the spinning earth, and nodded.

Damien smirked. "I wondered how much longer you were going to last, Heartfilia." she scoffed, brushing it off like the challendge wasn't worth it.

"I wondered how long your dear Fire Dragon Slayer would last. I questioned how long Gray would have lasted. I wondered how long Erza would have lasted. Much longer than you." The girl stiffened. Damien was taunting her weak spot, but she tried to ignore them.

"face it, Lucy Heartfilia, in comparison to your team mates, you're weak. a mere shadow of the mighty Titania, Ice Mage, and Salamander." Something in Lucy broke. She felt trapped in a cage, poked and prodded by his insults.

_Weak..._

_ Useless... _

_A mere shadow of my team mates..._

She whimpered, feeling as small and as powerless as an ant. She couldn't even last a minute against Damien on her own. Lucy shivered, doubling over and clutching herself as if she was about to shatter. And why shouldn't she shatter? She felt so...fragile. Lucy knew she wasn't as strong as everyone else, she knew that Stellar Spirit mages were physically weaker, but it still hurt. Another small, pained sound escaped her lips, and Natsu spun towards the sound.

"Lucy! Luce..." when he spotted her, the sight of tears coursing down her cheeks nearly froze him in his tracks. He had to say something to her...he had to help her get back up, but what? "Lucy...you're not useless, don't listen to him!"

"B-but..."

"Stop it!" the pink-haired man growled. He heard the others confronting Eric in the background and knew he had to get Lucy back to herself, quickly before Damien decided to make another move. "Lucy, think about all the times you've proved how strong you are. You fight alongside your spirits instead of hiding behind them like a lot of Stellar Spirit mages! That has to count for something, right?"

"Just one thing doesn't make a weak person strong!" she argued stubbornly. He almost told her that how stubborn she was could be a form of strength, but decided against it.

"Luce...you've laughed with us and you've cried with us...but now we need you to stand with us," the Dragon Slayer held out his hand to her, smiling. "Not one of us thinks you're weak. We believe in you, so you've got to save a little belief for yourself, too."

The blonde's hand slowly came up, tears still welling in her eyes. As soon as her fingers touched his, Natsu tightened his grip and pulled her quickly to her feet.

"Come on, Luce. Let's go kick his ass...together!"

She smiled at him, hope and belief bubbling up in her chest.

* * *

**I would like to thank ****for being totally awesome **Mrs. HopeEstheim** and helping me out with the last exact... 8 paragraphs [except for the last 2 sentences,] and she is totally awesome for helping me! [Every time I wrote it the last part ended up cr#p... bleh.] Check out her stories, they are SUPER AWESOME! [Great, now I sound like a TV Advertising [wo]man/girl...] THANK YOU! **

**To my awesome reviewer! [pity, only one reviewer last chapter?]=**

**Dyeni!: don't we FTlovers all wish that? I'd give anything to meet him. [and actually understand what he'd be saying...] :3 here's your update!**

**Review? Do you like it, hate it, adore it, did it make you smile? Reviews make the world go 'round, please tell me what you think! :3**


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer, I don't own FT. **

**P.S. I REEDITED THIS CHAPTER, BECAUSE CHAP. 16 AND 17 WERE TOO SHORT, SO I FUSED THEM TOGETHER.**

**read on!**

* * *

Gajeel and Wendy sent twin Roars towards Eric, he dodged, it but just barely, the shrapnel and pressured wind narrowly missing his body. He sent a dozen throwing knives at Wendy, but the girl moved back, yelping, the metal barely missing her and instead digging into the rooftop. they remained standing there, shining in the rising sunlight.

Gajeel spun around. "Tiny!" he knew that metal throwing knives wouldn't work on him; Eric seemed to know that too, so the little Twerp was aiming the sharp metal at Wendy.

"I'm okay!" she cried, regaining her composure. Eric was howling in the background at her previous expression, his wings twitching with each giggle.

"Now, is it time for me to get serious right now or not?" He asked snootily. Gajeel sent a growl at him.

"You little—" the Iron Dragon Slayer let out a string of insulting curses at him. Wendy swallowed at the profanity of them.

Eric didn't seem fazed. He smirked, "Nice. Really. You're telling me, a ten-year-old kid, that I'm a—" he copied the swears that Gajeel said. The Iron Dragon Slayer nodded.

"That's so sweet of you," he said mockingly, another dozen throwing knives appearing from his hands, and he threw them expertly at the tiny blue-haired mage. She squealed and did a breath attack, blowing them off course and they scattered around her. Except one, which hit her arm, luckily with only the hilt. There would likely be an ugly bruise forming there tomorrow. The girl yelped, holding a little higher than her elbow.

"Lucky dodge," Eric scoffed, still hovering in the air. Gajeel wrinkled his nose; if only he had his cat! Pantherlily would have been able to fly him up to Eric's height. The bleach-blonde mage, as if sensing the Iron Dragon Slayer's thoughts, smirked.

"Come on, is this all the legendary Black Steel Gajeel and Maiden of the Sky Wendy can muster to defeat a lowly mage like me?" Eric taunted, still flying up high.

"What about you come down here and see? You'll get a much better view," Gajeel snarled. "And look! If you come down here now, you'll get an extra fist in the face! Only for a limited time offer."

Eric smirked; "cute." was all he said. "I'm actually gonna get serious and beat you losers so I can go help my—" Eric wrinkled his nose, looking over at the fight between Damien, Kura, Lucy, and Natsu, "—acquaintance."

"You don't like him?" Wendy asked timidly.

"No, we made a deal together. I'm helping him out with this, and then after we defeat you I'll get your Magic all for myself."

The two Dragon Slayers frowned. "What do you mean 'get our Magic all for yourself'?" Gajeel asked, a growl in his voice.

Eric looked away, but it was just a way to taunt them. Wendy Roared at him, but he flipped under it. The Dragon Slayers knew they were just wasting their Magic; unless they made a lucky shot, Eric would just stay up there until their Magic reserves were worn out and were easily defeated.

"Let me explain. My real name is Thomas Balsamico. I was born with the Magic Take Over. I was the oldest in the Balsamico family, heir to the throne, but my Magic was... fairly weak." His lips twisted into a grimace. "I could only take over the weakest of bugs and birds. I was a lowly, crappy Magic heir."

"Then my sister Aceto, was born, Magic less, then Roxanne. She had Magic in her blood, the ability to make several copies of herself. And then, my little brother, Eric Balsamico." Non-Eric snarled.

"He, he was a star! The ability to Master many types of Magic at the age of five. He was a Take Over mage to start with, he could take many large and small forms. Then he developed other Magic, Fire Magic, Earth Magic, the ability to sense weather changes..! I never heard the end of my little brother's compliments. Nobody gave a crap about me, the Heir to the Balsamico throne!"

The snarl turned into a smoother tone. "when I was fifteen, I realized I had a special ability. It was an accident; there was a traitor butler in our group that was paid to murder the oldest heir of the Balsamico family. The next thing he knew after he attempted to kill me was blackness. The reason why I was no good at Taking Over beast or animals was because I excelled at Taking Over Humans. I kept it secret, but I'd finally had enough of my brother, so I snuck into his room, and fused my spirit into his body."

Wendy gasped. "That's... that's evil!"

"Thank you," Eric purred, glancing at them. "Yes, I'm really Thomas, not Eric, but I've used the name enough that I go by it now."

Gajeel lifted his lip, showing off his sharp canines in a snarl. "Wendy, he's telling us this to buy himself time." He looked behind him, where Salamander and Lucy were fighting with Damien, both incredibly bruised, but no major wounds yet up against the older man. Kura had disappeared, he guessed that she was knocked unconscious somewhere.

"B-But, we can't get him up there." She pouted.

He huffed, getting an idea. "Tiny, you're gonna have to Roar me up there." She silently repeated the sentence, eyes getting a flicker of determination in them.

"Right." She prepared herself, and Gajeel leaped up.

"Sky dragons roar!" Gajeel was thrown forward by the sudden gale force. The speed of it surprised Eric; he wasn't totally expecting the move, but he dived, moving out of Gajeel's range of attack. Wendy was there though.

Eric cried out as one of his wings was gripped. He looked behind him, trying to flap, but Wendy held on tightly. Knives materialized in his hands, but Wendy was faster. Air spiraling down her arms, she smashed her tiny fist against his cheek, letting go suddenly, making him spiral out of control.

The boy, regaining some of his composure, looked up, heading for the safety of the sky again; realized two things. One, the Iron Dragon Slayer was standing in his way. Two, Gajeel's cheeks were blown up, and he knew what that meant.

The Iron Dragon Slayer let out a fierce Roar, a dozen tiny metal bits flying from his mouth. Eric covered his face, but the damage was done; his Aera-Magic wings dissipated with blue sparks, and the boy crashed onto the ground.

Eric's mouth twitched into a pained grimace, and then an angry glower. He roared, standing back up and spreading his wings. He zoomed up into the air, creating dozen after dozen of knives in his hands, throwing them at Wendy. She yelped, but Gajeel Roared them away, seconds before they would have hit her. He scowled, but the throwing knives were a distraction; the Iron Dragon Slayer was thrown sideways by Eric using momentum and tackling him, wrapping his arms around his midsection and picking him up into the air.

"Transportation! look, i'm carrying you and bringing you around places!" Gajeel's cheeks blew up, and suddenly, he dropped. he hit the ground with a pained thud and a startling snap. he winced; that had to be one of his bones.

"Gajeel-san!" Wendy ran up to him, but his eyes widened.

"Tiny, look out!" Wendy spun around at the last moment, but too late, Eric had already picked her up. Wendy struggled, but the Twerp whispered the same thing in her ear. It didn't work, and to his surprise, she tugged mercilessly, sending them spiraling into a building. Wendy twisted so he was facing the impact, but everything still hurt when they burst through the wall.

Eric, snarled, but his head hit something hard; his eyes rolled up to the back of his head and he fell unconscious. The blue-haired girl stood up, she managed to on the third try, and looked up at Gajeel limping towards them.

Gajeel and Wendy grinned at each other, but something surprised them. Something flew out of Eric's mouth, something black, and started flying away. The Sky Maiden stopped the thing by creating a little air-space bubble.

The Dragon Slayers inspected it. "I-I think it's Thomas." Wendy said. The little black thing was little more than a cloud, but it certainly reeked of sour Magic. Dark Magic.

"Ya, I think so Tiny. Can you destroy it?" As Er- Thomas was defeated, his hold on Eric released. Wendy held out her hands, and the bubble started to glow. It popped, and the cloud disappeared. Wendy smiled, swooning a little, but caught herself. She blinked hazily.

"You okay Tiny?" The Iron Dragon Slayer was mildly concerned, it was his kinda/sorta little sister.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Gajeel-san." Wendy finally got the floor to stay in one place. They looked over at the other battle; Natsu was picking Lucy up off the ground, grinning.

"Come on, Tiny. We still have work to do. We can't let Old Dude get away with what he did with our brother, can we?" Gajeel looked over his shoulder at the blue-haired girl. He would _never_ admit afterwards that he called Salamander his brother, but he was, in a sense. Either way, he may not be his brother, but Gajeel and Wendy was going to fight for him like a family.

* * *

Lucy gripped Natsu's hand, and he pulled her up to her feet. She wiped the tears, now happy ones, off of her face, trying not to burst again. She looked at her comrade; he beamed at her, and it was so Natsu that she had to grin at him too.

Damien held out his hands. "Are you prepared to die yet?" suddenly, the temperature around Lucy raised; the air heating until it was barely breathable. Natsu had coated himself in flames, a huge bonfire; if Lucy didn't know better, she would have screamed at a man burning in the inferno. But she unclipped a key from her belt and wielded it dangerously.

"I'll take that as a yes," Damien let out a burst of rapid-fire yellow waves, tearing up the rooftop, and the Fairies split to avoid getting hit from the static or debris.

"Open, Gate of the Goat, Capricorn!" Lucy cried. The humanoid goat appeared next to her, taking not a spit second to realize the situation. He leaped forwards onto the rooftop, aiming for the man standing there. Damien snarled, lighting his hands with electricity to counter the goat. Without him noticing, Lucy lashed her whip out; it snaked around Damien's ankle and he snarled as it tugged. Electricity ran down it, and Lucy winced, but pulled hard enough that Damien tripped and fell. Capricorn picked him up, and cleanly snap-kicked him at Natsu, who was waiting on the other side.

The older man fell for a moment before twisting, letting out a giant beam that stuck the boy. Natsu winced, but didn't let that stop him; he punched Damien right in the jaw, before he even touched the floor, jumping over him, flame-bodied, to smash him into the ground. The man howled, but grabbed his ankle, throwing him away, making the Dragon Slayer crash through a wall. A cloud of debris enveloped him.

Lucy cried out. "Natsu!" the cloud cleared slightly, and she saw his figure standing up, although having some difficulties. Nothingless, she relaxed a tad. She turned her attention back to Damien, chocolate orbs filled with determination. "Capricorn, buy me some time."

The Spirit nodded, jumping down easily and going head-to-head with Damien. He jumped out of the way to avoid his hooves, but the human blasted the spot where the goat once stood. Unfortunately, he was a moment too late; his head whipped back with a square kick Capricorn delivered. Natsu joined the fight eagerly, but Damien put up a flickering wall, holding the two back for enough time to let him get a breather.

Lucy let her anger and pent-up emotions rise; her Magic reacting to her emotions and bubbling up to meet them. she reined it in and guided it to her hands; they started sparking with golden light, but it wasn't enough. She furrowed her brows, concentrating, and then they flew open.

She jumped down, something that usually would have hurt, but adrenaline flooded through her veins and she rushed down to meet the battle. Natsu glanced behind him, eyes widening in realization.

Lucy looked like a golden Phoenix, surrounded in metallic light as she charged forward. She leaped past him, smashing into the barrier Damien made hastily and shattered it instantly. Capricorn faded, but Lucy was faster and stronger in battle than she had ever physically been before.

Damien, becoming frantic, dodged the first blows she gave him, ducking under and spinning around behind. He raised his hands to blast her backside, a cowardly move, but Natsu Roared at him; the raging inferno blasting him back. Damien held up his arms to protect himself and jumped onto the previous wrecked rooftop.

Lucy and Natsu jumped up to meet him; Natsu surrounded by flames, and Lucy the golden aura. On either side of him, Damien's eyes darted back and forth. Smirking, he reached into his pocket.

"You want this, don't you?" he asked slowly. Lucy and Natsu's eyes widened in realization.

"Well... it seems we have a stalemate." He said, standing up taller and acting more confident. "I put a spell in my pocket so that the glass wouldn't break inside, but out here..." he smirked, letting the ball inch towards the edge of his fingers.

"No!" Lucy reached out and took a step forward, but he glanced at her warningly. Her concentration broke in that moment and the flickering light died around her; she was tired, but didn't let the determination fade off her face.

"Oi, give Bunny-girl the glass ball or we're gonna kick your ass into high Heaven," growled Gajeel, climbing up onto the rooftop, now no longer limping with the help of Wendy. The poor girl had passed out after healing him, and he'd put her somewhere safe before joining the fight.

"Y-yeah!" Kura stepped onto the rooftop, completing the square around Damien. She had finally woken up with Gajeel in her face, shaking her awake and yelling rude insults in her ears. She'd hit him hard instinctively, still groggy from being knocked out, but said a whole bunch of apologies to the obviously beat-up Dragon Slayer.

"Well, seems all of FairyTail's Dragon Slayers are here, except little Wendy. Where's she?" Damien asked innocently.

"Oh, cut it with the crap," Gajeel snarled. "Give us the ball."

He smirked, rolling it between his fingers. "why should I?"

Kura got a wicked gleam in her eye. "do you want the beating of a lifetime?"

Lucy held out her hand. "give it to me, no funny business, and we'll think about giving mercy." Damien leered in response.

"fine. Have it." Damien pulled his arm back and threw the ball as hard as he could behind Lucy. She let out a startled cry as she watched it fall.

She hurriedly unclipped a Key from her belt. "Open, Gate of the R—" she was too late. The glass shattered, and the small, flickering flame almost... bounced into the air. Her gaze was fixed on it for a moment, mouth hanging open, before it flickered, and died.

* * *

**GOSH! Finally done that chapter. Whoo! **

**HiroMashima: Thank you! I blush at your compliments.**

**FT 4ever: I know, right? I'm gonna miss Kura...and Ren... and Damien and Eric... *sighs* here's your update...**

**PikaskyeFan: I LOVE your username. :3 Make's me blush. [I didn't know I had fans! *giggles*] Tt most, four, after this. three, and then [possibly,] an epilogue. I don't know if i'm gonna do a sequel again. sorry. but here's the next new chapter! **

**Dyeni: FANGIRLING! whoo! [sorry this reply is so short, it's late.] here's your post! **

**LifeIsWaiting: yes, you missed lots of chappies! oh yeah, chibi Erza? so Ka-waii! hehehe Damine, I was aiming for the hate. AND YOU CAN STOP TO EAT! I don't want to have charges pressed against me for killing someone using my stories, lol.**


	18. Chapter 17

**I DON'T, I REPEAT, DON'T OWN FAIRYTAIL. IF I DID I'D BE TOTALLY AWESOME, JUST LIKE MASHIMA-SENSEI, THE AWESOMEST PERSON ON THE PLANET, AND NOT A LOWLY WRITER. [whoops... Caps lock was on... to lazy to write it again, so caps it is!]**

* * *

The flame sparked in the air for a moment, but she was too late. The tiny ember wavered for a split second before fading off into the wind. The Stellar Spirit mage watched, mouth hanging open slightly, at the spot where it once stood. Nobody was able to stir, shocked.

Damien made his move then, whipping by the frozen Lucy. She stared at him with wide chocolate orbs; the man grabbed her without resistance of any sort. Inside, the pieces she'd so delicately built inside of her, the thin mental wall she'd prepared in the last week broke. The wall was already under strain; and finally it had enough. Like a broken dam, watery emotions flooded her, and her eyes filled with salty tears.

"You move forward, snap goes her wrist," Damien snarled at the remaining Dragon Slayers. He held Lucy's arms above their heads and her chin between his pointer and thumb. He forced her to look at him in the eyes, cold gray meeting wet chocolate ones.

"I, win." He said cruelly, smirking at her face. Tears ran down her cheeks and she was shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes darted around his face, in awed fear. Natsu, Kura, and Gajeel couldn't move; move and Damien would break Lucy's wrists, and a Roar attack with the Celestial Spirit mage in such close range would hurt her too.

For what seemed like forever, Lucy sobbed, yanking her head down so her bangs concealed her eyes. Damien watched in cruel satisfaction, the Dragon Slayers not daring to move still, but Kura was crying with Lucy, sympathetic for her friend. They had tried so hard. Lucy looked up, staring at Damien in the eye. "Y-You wanna know w-what?" she asked, a shiver in her voice. She smiled, a quivery upwards line on her tear-streaked face. "I don't care anymore." Damien tried not to show the recoil.

Lucy shook her head, pressing her lips together in an attempt to stop incoming tears. "I d-don't. Th-there's too m-much heartbreak," she sobbed

"I don't c-care what you do to me anymore. B-Break my heart and ho-hope to die, that's the saying, r-right? Well, congratulations, Damien, y-you did a good job on breaking my heart. I d-don't care what you do to me anymore, but I can't l-let you get away w-with what you did to Natsu." Her voice shivered, but she continued strong.

"I'm too l-lost and broken for me to care what the hell you do."

"Br-break my wrists, snap m-my heart, or even kill me. I d...d-don't care. You just played with my Fire," she looked up, her eyes startlingly clear through the tears, "and y-you're gonna get burned." She wretched her hands away from her, pushing his chest away, anger boiling in her veins. Lucy brought back her foot, leg sliding back automatically. A tear plopped down onto the rooftop, staining the grey a darker shade.

For a split second, she got a look of his startled face, staring back with a tear-streaked sad one. Yet she was smiling. She swung her foot around, delivering a kick to his chest—

And pushing him off the rooftop.

Damien fell, and watched as Lucy looked down at him. His eyes were wide, terrified, but for a split second, he seemed calm. Almost in slow-motion, Lucy watched; He smirked one last time before he hit the ground with a thud, head snapping back and hitting the ground.

With closer inspection from Lucy, he was still breathing, but he was knocked out. Probably with a few broken bones, but the Stellar Spirit mage gave him one final look before turning around miserably and walking away.

Kura joined her in silence, wrapping her arm around the girl's slim shoulder as she started to cry. The two boys followed behind them, knowing when to be silent.

* * *

As they walked through the town, many passerbies turned and made a path for them, looking at the beaten-up fairies, including the girl that was crying. The air quickly filled with hushed whispers, but Lucy trudged on, ignoring all of them.

A large dust cloud appeared over heads, and the path widened once again to meet the strange thing. The raised yells were more audible now, and Lucy looked up to see a dozen running members of FairyTail screaming for them. They eventually slowed down. Ren, Levy, Aiko, Happy, Charle, Pantherlily, Gray, Erza, Cana, and Lisanna ran/flew up to the group.

Ren and Aiko went to Kura immediately seeing her injuries, and Erza, Lisanna, and Cana went up to Lucy, having an idea of what happened for the female mage to be crying like that, going to comfort her. Pantherlily and Levy went up to Gajeel going to ask what happened, and Gray and Happy walked up to Natsu, trying to figure what happened from him for Lucy to be crying.

Natsu partially ignored his friends, and watched from a distance Lucy, and Lisanna hugging the sobbing girl, letting her snot into her shirt, but smiling and stroking her head nothingless. Seeing them together made his stomach twist painfully, as if he was on a train, but he wasn't, he was on non-moving ground, and yet the ache in his chest felt exactly like it. Even worse than that.

"Hey, Natsu!" Gray finally caught his attention, seeing where he was, unintentionally, staring. He followed his gaze, clapping a hand onto his shoulder. "You'll figure it out eventually, bud." He turned to look at his frienemy, trying to pass on a little bit of helpfulness before Happy settled on his other shoulder.

He licked Natsu's cheek, trying to settle his still battle-tensed nerves, but something surprised them all.

A slightly swooning figure pushed through the crowd, with something strange floating in front of her. it was a large bubble, about the size of a beach-ball, that spaced out her figure and made the obviously girl unrecognizable.

The girl yawned tiredly, and collapsed on the ground. Ren, the closest one, ran to catch her and put her neatly on the ground. The bubble moved a bit, and the rest of the Fairies saw it was Wendy. "Wendy!"

Gajeel walked right up to her, seeing if his battle partner was alright. Other than the purple-y bruises starting to form on her limbs, she seemed fine, but very fatigued. "Get Kura..." she rasped.

Gajeel shouted over the tiny crowd that was forming, repeating her words. They were too quiet unless you came in close. "Where's Fluffy?" he demanded loudly.

The Energy Dragon Slayer pushed through the crowd, and Wendy lifted a finger, pointing to the bubble. "Store air bubble... airtight... before Magic runs out..." Kura, blinking, took a second to understand what she meant, but made a purple bubble around the air sphere and held it there.

The bubble inside popped, and Wendy's eyes closed. Everyone looked around, trying to ask, _what was that about_, but Gajeel lifted up the smaller blue-haired girl in his arms and growled, "We'll find out sooner or later, but for now we'll have to settle down and wait for her to wake up before getting answers. Fluffy—" meaning Kura, "—don't you dare release that bubble, Tiny wasted her energy on it, so don't let it out of your sight." Everyone was slightly edged off by the Iron Dragon Slayers _almost_ kind, worried words, but followed behind him.

Lucy had stopped crying, but she still sniffled occasionally, walking between Cana and Lisanna. Natsu, limping a little, walked a small distance behind them, their heads occasionally disappearing from sight in the crowd, next to Gray and Happy riding his shoulder.

They finally reached the guild, the gates standing tall and proud, but Lucy just ignored them, the first one to go in. Once out of sight, she burst into a run, sprinting for the bathroom with an arm covering her eyes. The other Fairies already in the guild watched, guessing what had happened, and Master Makarov sipped his beer sadly. Gajeel pushed through the crowd waiting at the door to the infirmary with Wendy in his arms, ignoring the crying Celestial Spirit mage. Eventually, everyone else poured into the guild, quiet.

"So... I'm guessing it didn't go well?" someone asked quietly, the sound echoing throughout the guildhall. Some nodded miserably.

* * *

Natsu, after being convinced by Happy and Gray, went to the infirmary with Kura, who had a nasty bump on her head from the crash. The Fire Dragon Slayer himself had many burn, from the electricity, marks and cuts on his forearms, and his vest was quite singed and ripped in some places. He limped up the stairs, Kura waiting on top for him, the bubble floating next to her, before they both disappeared above.

The guild was in silence, but the rest slowly sat down and waited for the fighters to come back at some point, but were fairly relieved. If Lucy hadn't knocked out Damien twenty seconds any later, the whole guild would have blown up. So they waited impatiently, Master moving to call Porlyusica.

* * *

In the infirmary, Natsu, Kura, and unconscious Wendy lay in separate cots, waiting for Mira to come up with the first-aid. Kura kept the bubble floating next to her, but it was slowly beginning to drain her minimal supply of Magic remaining. She couldn't ask anyone else to hold it because she didn't know anyone else who could make an airtight ball, and she didn't want to risk it.

Natsu looked over to the side at the Energy Dragon Slayer. "So... wazzup?" he asked.

She looked over at him, head flopping over. "Nothing much..."

"That's good." There was a long, awkward pause. Lucy spoke to Kura a lot after the Battle of Clockwork Tower, and Natsu would often stand with her, but never had they really spoke to each other alone like this. Natsu coughed, the sound echoing throughout the infirmary. He sent an apologetic glance at Kura, then turned back to staring at the wall.

Finally he spoke. "What Lucy said earlier... when she gave everything up and risked her life... did she really mean the words that she said?" He didn't turn to look at his startled nakama, but continued to stare at the ceiling.

Kura bolted upright, but winced as her sides burned and she lay back down on the cot. "Yeah. I haven't known Lucy for long, but you guys... were tight. She still..." she cut herself off.

"Don't worry about conflicting me," he said honestly.

She let out a breath. "Lucy still had feelings for you. She's been trying to cover them up and ignore you, but when she saw... that, the dam broke. I didn't know how much longer she could hold it in before snapping." She watched him curiously, but no differences in his expression occurred, he just stared at the ceiling blandly.

To her surprise, Wendy, on the other side of Natsu, coughed and shuddered in her bed. Kura looked up and, slower this time, got onto an upright position, looking over the Fire Dragon Slayer and gazing at the blue-haired Sky maiden.

Wendy's eyes flickered open and her head flopped limply over to stare at the two Dragon Slayers. "Hey guys," she said weakly. Her eyes were bright though, seeing the floating bubble next to Kura.

She grinned. "We did it..!" Kura and Natsu blinked and, simultaneously, turned their heads to look at her.

"Did what?" the purple-haired woman asked.

This time Wendy blinked in surprise, and lifted her arm to point at the bubble. "We got Natsu's memories. In there." Their eyes widened, and they spun around to look at the purple bubble floating in the air.

"You mean," Kura said carefully. "Natsu's memories are in this bubble?" Wendy nodded. The Energy Dragon Slayer stared at it for a moment before letting out an uncharacteristic whoop. Ignoring her injuries, she got up, [her sides burned again,] but ran outside and leaned over the banister, looking over the downcast Fairies.

"Guys!" she yelled, her own, and first, Dragon Slayer grin bursting across her face, "We did it! We have Natsu's memories!" the guild lay in silence for a moment.

Lucy, wondering what the noise was about, walked outside the bathroom, red-eyed, and heard the news. Her eyes widened, and Kura caught her gaze. She nodded, and the whole guild started screaming joy, some of them rushing up the stairs to tackle Kura in a giant hug, while most yelled their enthusiastic cheers and someone got out the beer. Some went to Lucy and laughed with the happy crying girl, patting her back and giggling with her tears.

Kura stuck a hand out of the pile on top of her, needing to breathe, and someone grabbed it and lifted her out. Ren pulled the girl protectively to his chest, looking at the other Fairies on the floor amusedly. "Mine," he scolded. "All mine. No hugs for you guys." He hugged her tightly to emphasise the point. Kura giggled in his arms and pecked his cheek sweetly. The Fairies on the ground grinned.

"So, Lucy, are you happy?" Lisanna asked the crying girl on the ground floor. Lucy was beaming like an idiot and practically bawling, but she didn't care. She whooped and her knees gave out underneath her from happiness. Erza helped her up and let the girl lean on her shoulder to support lest her legs give out again. Everyone laughed at her, but it was with her, not at. Lucy started hiccupping because she'd cried so much, and Lisanna giggled next to her.

Mira, in the bar, hauled a giant barrel of beer out from the private stash in the back room. She was saving it for a celebration like this. "Free beer!" she announced. Cana was the first one to launch herself at it, getting a giant jug and filling it up to the brim. Elfman in the background was sobbing [manly,] crying, 'it's man to cry your joy!' while Evergreen hit him with her fan. Gray was meeting up with Loke, who had appeared at the entrance, looking for Lucy. Supposedly, the Spirit had been unintentionally called, but he decided to stay with the party on his own Magic and celebrate with the Fairies.

Natsu hobbled out of the infirmary, helping a fatigued Wendy, and everyone looked up to see them. Everyone was silent, [except for Lucy's sniffles,] but the Fire Dragon Slayer's face burst into a grin. "What are we all waiting for?"

The guild erupted into cheers.

* * *

**The legendary [*cough* "not."] Pikaskye had decided; she will put up a poll on her profile asking if the awesome readers would like a sequel! Cause I feel like it. Make this a trilogy. I'm almost done FireFlies peoples! [kinda sad...] and I still have plenty on time to get in a new chappy for Chances. I'm on a roll! The next chapter will be in later today, cause this one was so long I had to cut it in half, so check in later! **

**REVEIW REPLIES! **

**Dyeni: yay! I worked extra hard on it; BUT... ****_I'm not perfected in the art of combat_****. I do tae-kwon-do and took experience from doing combat from that, and added moves that would seem extreme in real life. Haven't you noticed that amine/manga fights everyone is super experienced in fighting? Yay! Glad to hear your computer's better. Here's your update! **

**HiroMashima: Yes, I am a GIANT fan of the manga. I read the newest chapter every Friday. Chibi Natsu! O.M.G. So Adorable! I noticed in the picture of MiniNatsu, the sleeve-less part of his vest, his [a-hem,] very strong muscles really filled in through the years, huh? Seeing as his vest was tight on his adult/teen years, then suddenly shrunk to very loose. But he was so cute, I wanted to hug him until he died from lack of oxygen. XD [and Happy was HI-larious. bottle= fly by= crap.] [I'm gonna stop my rant of the latest chapter..!] Hehe, Wendy saves the day! I was aiming for 'omg, what just happened,' and I think I got it right. Thank you for reviewing! [god,this reply is long.]**

**Guest: *blushes furiously* Aw, thanks. I like making reader happy! [and sad... and angry... and 'WT& just happened"...] well, either way, thanks for reviewing! **

**Fairytail4ever: yeah... that was fun writing about b&tchy Aiko... fun... gonna miss them all... I don't know, should I make a sequel? **

**Lalalalala, sing the happy song... I don't know, just review? :D**

**[i'll give out cooook-ies..!]**


	19. Chapter 18

A few hours later, when everything had calmed down and Kura had gotten Gray to make an Ice Make Sphere around the bubble to protect it, Team Natsu, Team Kura, Master, Mira, Lisanna, Juvia, Charle, and Wendy stood in the middle of the guild's main hall. They had rolled the Ice Sphere into the center, and they all surrounded it. Master had called Porlyusica and she was due any minute now.

Lucy looked over at Wendy, who had regained most of her Magic and was waiting next to her. "Say, Wendy?" the named girl turned and looked at the Celestial Spirit mage, hrming.

"How did you save Natsu's memories? They clearly disappeared in the air when the glass orb shattered," she asked. Wendy smiled.

"Well, once the fire dissipated, it would have left the memories floating into the air to fade and eventually spread out so thin it would have been impossible to recollect them," the tinier one explained. "See, Gajeel put me somewhere after I healed him and fell unconscious. But it was only for a short time, so I went and followed his scent to the battlefield. I saw the orb falling as I passed the bed, but it broke before I could get there. I made an airtight bubble around it and stayed out of sight, Lucy-san. I knew there was a risk in me falling unconscious in the battle and letting the memories dissipate so I couldn't go help you, I'm sorry."

Lucy's face burst into a grin and she ruffled Wendy's hair, unable to help herself. "Wendy, you did good. Really. If it wasn't for you, the whole mission would have been for nothing. If you need help with anything, anything in the world, you can ask me. I could never repay you." The blue-haired girl smiled back at her, trying to fix her hair up before Porlyusica came. She wanted to impress her, because Wendy had a fondness for the grumpy Doctor that couldn't be explained by the other Fairies.

The door opened, and the old purple haired woman hobbled into the guild. She was tall, with light violet locks tied up into a tight bun. Her features were twisted into a scowl, but she walked up to Master Makarov sternly. "whaddu' want?" she snapped.

Wendy stepped in. "Hello, Porlyusica-san. We need some help. Natsu has suffered from the effects from Memory Lane and we need help putting his memories back," she explained, bowing formally to the woman.

"Memory Lane?" Porlyusica's gaze traveled around and fixed on the Fire Dragon Slayer, stepping closer to him and peering at him face. "It doesn't seem like it. He would have been stupid and confused if he was affected by that fog."

"Well, Damien took all his memories of Lucy and made new memories with Lisanna in them instead. These are the real ones." Wendy pointed to the ball of ice. The older woman glanced at it before peering back at Natsu. He tried not to flinch.

"Crude way of storing the real memories, but I suppose it works. I'm guessing you want to return the memories to the boy?" she asked, looking over at Wendy. She nodded.

"I'm sorry Porlyusica, I could return his state of mine normally, but with last-second decisions they got stuck in the airspace and I don't know how to return them like this." She looked sheepishly at the Ice Sphere.

"Very well," the woman sighed, and went to work. "We'll need the boy to sit down." Mira got a chair and sat Natsu down on it. the Fire Dragon Slayer tried to look proud and happy, but Porlyusica snapped at him.

"Stop puffing up your chest, male, we need you to be in a calm state of mind. Do it or it's gonna hurt more." Natsu slouched, but furrowed his eyebrows together in an attempt to clear his mind. He felt a thwak to his head, and his onyx eyes opened to stare at a fuming Doctor, rubbing the back of his head. "Calm! Don't make such a sour expression!" she scowled. Everyone sweatdropped.

Natsu huffed silently, knowing not to contradict the old lady. He relaxed, and heard Porlyusica moving around. "Back away, back away! I need space to do— Idiot, Wendy, get over here. I need your Magic to do this. Hey! Didn't I tell you to back off? Oh, yes, we need the Ice Mage... you? get some clothes on! ...I don't care if you're his partner, cat, we need room!" which in no way helped him relax.

Wendy stepped forward with Gray, and Porlyusica turned to look at them seriously. "You'll all need to listen to my instructions carefully." Natsu opened his eyes to look at her, but she snapped, "Don't open your eyes!" so the Dragon Slayer closed them quickly.

"Wendy, you'll have to make a tunnel or air straight to Pinky's mouth when I say so. Stripper boy, once Wendy makes the tunnel, you'll have to break off a perfectly circular exit for the memories to flood to it. Dragon Slayer, you're going to suck in the air just like you eat your fire, are we clear?" they nodded their heads, so the woman continued sternly. "If any of you makes even the smallest mistake, Pinky's memories will dissipate into the air, so DON'T MAKE ONE." Everyone nodded.

The lady turned to the main group. "Because we are forcing new memories into his head, it will hurt. Like a giant headache in one massive blow, so it might be expected that some of you will have to hold him down while Wendy heals his mind and gets out the Baby memories. So be prepared." Erza requipped into her Fire Empress Armour and put down the sword, Juvia and Gray smiled, Lucy looked prepared, and everyone nodded.

"Of course, since the memories are from the change to Silverhead to Blonde, both of you may cause extra distress, so you'll leave the room." Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but the old lady gave her a stern look and barked, "Do not contradict me!" the Stellar Spirit mage felt like crying again. She wouldn't be there for Natsu. Lisanna wrapped an arm around her shoulder and they moved for the nearest room, which happened to be the bathroom.

"Begin. Wendy, make the tunnel." The Sky Dragon Slayer held out her palms, and slowly, and the air around Natsu started to spin. Gradually, it focused, looking like a mini tornado, anchoring itself to Natsu's mouth to the Ice Sphere. Once Porlyusica was satisfied it was strong enough, she pointed a bony finger at Gray. "Stripper. Break a small bit of ice, and Dragon Slayer, open your mouth." The Ice mage held out his open hand and fist, and a small hole broke in the inch-thick ice. Slowly, the tunnel forced the air out, and Natsu ate. Slowly, his features twisted into a grimace.

Porlyusica clapped her hands. "Redhead, Watergirl , Stripper, get over here." She snapped. The mages surrounded the chair and Natsu. He was breathing heavily and holding his head. "Wendy, break the tunnel. We're done with that." With a relieved sigh from the girl, she lowered her hands and the air gradually slowed down.

"The pain could kick in anytime between a moment and a minute, so be—"

"I'm fine, I'm f—" suddenly, Natsu threw back his head and howled. He fell to the floor, and Erza leaped for him, pinning down his writhing body. Natsu's eyes flew open; they were black slits, like a reptile's, or a distressed Dragon's, but they quickly squeezed shut again. The temperature rose considerably in the few short seconds, and even Erza, in her Flame Empress Armour, grunted from the heat. Gray moved to cool the distressed Fire Dragon Slayer down, Icing down his legs and covering everywhere else with a thin sheet of ice, but it melted quickly, creating puddles on the floor.

Lucy, in the bathroom, covered her ears and shook her head, tears raining down her cheeks. What were they doing to him? It sounded like they were torturing the Fire Dragon Slayer in the next room. Even with Lisanna's extra hands clamped down on her ears she could hear it perfectly, and the sound was enough to make her shiver.

"Wendy, move in." Natsu had curled up into a ball and was clutching his head, trembling violently. The Sky Maiden held out her hands, and Natsu started thrashing. Erza pinned him down, and finally the boy let out a burst of fire from his mouth.

"It hurts! It hu-ur-urts!" he wailed. His mind was fighting itself, a dozen daggers being thrust into it simultaneously. Two girls kept on flickering into his mind. Lucy, Lisanna, Lucy, Lisanna, Lucy, Lisanna, Licy, Lusanna, Lisuy... eventually their image combined along with a soft warm light, and a trillion daggers burst into his skull. He screamed.

Finally, Wendy pulled away, and something dark yellow floated from his mouth. Natsu slumped onto the floor, unmoving. Wendy caught the thing with another air bubble. "Would you like to keep these, Porlyusica-san?"

"No. Dispose of them. And be quiet." She snapped. Wendy closed her hands, and the air bubble shrunk until it popped, the yellow thing disappearing with it.

Erza got off Natsu, clearly worried. "Porly—"

"Shut it! This is the most important stage." The woman peered at the unmoving boy on the ground. "His mind is shattered at the moment, and if he doesn't put the pieces together he could go into a coma." Everyone's eyes widened.

The time ticked by, and no signs of Natsu moving, doing anything, occurred. It appeared like his chest wasn't moving either. His skin started, almost unnoticeably, turning paler. Porlyusica's head snapped up. "Wendy, help him! The boy's body isn't responding!" the girl went to her knees and went to work, the lady kneeling on the other side of Natsu's body and checking his pulse and wrenching his vest open.

"Okay, work on his lungs; they need air. And after, focus on his blood flow, if it goes on like this for too long his heart will stop beating—" the Fairies stood a distance away, not knowing what to do.

Lucy burst through the doors, being unable to hold herself anymore. She needed to see him. Lisanna tugged on her arm, but Lucy wretched it away, almost snarling at the girl. She spun back stomping towards Natsu, but she was blocked by Erza and Gray, holding their arms out defiantly. The Celestial Spirit mage was in a state of rage, and she wielded a key dangerously in front of her.

"Get out of my way." She sneered, trying to push past them. In the lowest levels that she could think, she knew that she couldn't beat Erza and Gray, and it only fuelled her anger. She saw the mages blocking her way as enemies, and she knew she couldn't beat them to help Natsu. She wasn't powerful enough. Her thoughts ran rampant in a giant circle, turning her vision red.

Behind them, Natsu shuddered, making them look behind them, and Lucy pushed through. Gray grabbed her forearm, but Lucy wretched it away. Finally, Erza had to intervene and she tugged Lucy's shirt back, making the girl stumble and fall on her butt. Lucy scrambled to the unconscious Fire Dragon Slayer, but Erza tugged her foot and pulled her away from him. "Natsu!" she screamed, digging her nails into the boards.

The Stellar Spirit mage kicked at the hand, but Erza wouldn't let go. "NATSU!" she was in a state of confused rage, and she couldn't hear and her only thoughts were to get to the pink-haired body lying in front of her.

Dimly, she heard, "Do something! He's reacting to his Mate's distress!"

"Erza-san, I don't like you doing this, but knock Lucy-san out." Lucy cried out. There was a dull thud, everything went black; the blonde's head flopped forward and she stopped screaming and thrashing.

The boy shuddered again, and finally relaxed a bit. Porlyusica stood up.

"He's in a stable state. Bring them into the infirmary," she snapped, not content with the blonde's reaction. She should have known that his Mate would have gone through a panic attack. Gray and Erza, standing there not knowing what to do, blinked at each other and went to pick up the two. Erza hefted Natsu over her shoulder and Gray took Lucy.

If the Stellar Spirit mage had been awake, she would have heard it.

"Lu... cy..."

* * *

**Damn! I'm good. Yeah, two chappies in one day? Boo-yah! ****Plus, I finally hit the 50 document mark! I decided to edit this chapter to add more of a stunning ending... it just wasn't good enough for me, [probably a bad idea to edit it seconds after I posted this chappy... BUT...] of course, now I think Lucy went a little too crazy... decisions, decisions... **

**Wow. I spent the last hour wondering when the newest chapter was gonna show up on the archive... DUH! I didn't post it on the story! I'm an idiot.**

**Reviewwww~ [or Happy will spam your account with pleads for fishhhhh!]**


	20. Chapter 19

**I DO NOT OWNZ ZEE FAIRYTAIL!**

* * *

Lucy stirred; head aching like it was just stampeded by a hundred dragons walking on her brain. She groaned, and then her eyes flew open, remembering what had occurred. She bolted upright, seeing the people surrounding her. Mira, Lisanna, Juvia, Charle, and Wendy stood in front of the bed, peering down at her. Lucy glared at Titania irritably. "You really had to knock me out?" she snapped.

Everyone grinned, seeing their favourite Celestial Spirit mage was back to her sassy self, and helped her get up into an upright position. "Where's Natsu?" Lucy demanded.

They pointed to her left; and there was her Dragon Slayer, surrounded by people and unconscious, but fine. She left out a breath, and stood up. Her nakama tried to push her back down, but she swatted them away.

"Lucy-san! You shouldn't be moving!" as Wendy said it, Lucy was it by a dizzy spell and she had to sit on the edge of the infirmary bed until the floor stopped spinning. "–until then."

"What?" Lucy blinked and looked over at the blue haired girl; she'd not heard a word she'd said.

"You shouldn't be moving Lucy-san, because Erza hit you really hard on the head and you just need some time for your brain to unscramble itself. You're not supposed to walk until then." The girl got up nothingless and hobbled her way to the unconscious Dragon Slayer. Wendy sighed, knowing that it couldn't be helped. For Lucy not to walk to Natsu was an idea ridiculous for her even to think.

The people surrounding him, Gray, Happy, Kura, Ren, and Aiko, noticed her and moved slightly so Lucy could squeeze in. She smiled down at Natsu, who looked relaxed enough to be sleeping. The others, sharing a wordless idea, moved out slip out of the room, so it was just Happy and the blonde left in the room.

Or so they thought. Happy noticed that Porlyusica didn't go. "Porlyusica? Why didn't you leave?"

"Just ignore me. I need to stay here in case he has another attack." Exceed and Stellar Spirit mage felt awkward, but went back to Natsu's sleeping face.

"Blonde." Lucy turned around, eyebrow raised. The purple-haired woman was staring at her.

"Pinky is your Mate, is he?" she ducked her head for a moment, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.

"I don't know. He lost his memories of me before anything happened." She refused to answer anything else and turned back to Natsu, now not quite so happy anymore.

The woman ignored the hint. "You reacted like that when the male counterpart of your bond was in distress. You challenged Titania to help him. If the roles were reversed, do you think he'd do the same?"

_Yes_, she wanted to say, but she honestly didn't know at the moment. Their _bond_ had undergone a long stretch for the last week. So she said it. "I don't know."

Porlyusica harrumphed but went back to whatever she was doing, Leaving Lucy and Happy to their own devices. Happy had dug into Natsu's scarf while the older and younger women had talked, curling up there, Natsu's breath occasionally moving his fur softly. The little cat purred, already asleep, and Lucy giggled a bit, scrubbing his head.

Her stomach growled loudly, and she turned back to Porlyusica. "How long had I been knocked out? She asked.

Without turning around, the woman said, "It's morning now. All night." Seeing as she was knocked out yesterday at sundown, and she hadn't eaten anything at the party, the battle, or the train... she hadn't eaten in two days. No wonder she was starving. Lucy glanced at the sleeping boy next to her.

The Celestial Spirit mage would get some food from Mira and come back up. So, kissing his forehead and tucking the blanket closer to him [she knew he liked it that way,] she got up and went downstairs.

Natsu smiled sleepily for a moment, and then shifted over, his face flumping into the pillows and arm flopping over the edge of the bed. It almost looked like he was reaching for something.

* * *

Lucy eventually came back upstairs, holding a sandwich made from Mira in her hands. Everyone had gone back to doing whatever, but they were obviously concerning for their partner. Lucy decided she would stay here for as long as he was here, because even going downstairs to get food left a bitter ache in her chest that only disappeared when she saw the boy in the infirmary again.

She sighed, but she was content waiting for him. Once she passed the doorway, she noticed the old nurse Porlyusica wasn't there. _Must have left_, she thought, seating herself down next to Natsu. She noticed his awkward position, his face was buried in the pillow, and Lucy didn't know if he could breathe or not. Either way, Lucy pushed his shoulder so that he was resting comfortably on his back, settling Happy in the folds of his scarf again.

The Celestial Spirit mage ate her turkey breast sandwich slowly, taking minimal bite of food at a time. She didn't feel all that hungry all of a sudden.

Lucy vaguely remembered the night before she was knocked out; her cheeks flushed at the thought of it. That was embarrassing. If she'd known that she'd react that way to her Dragon Slayer being hurt...

_Getting a little closer to the truth, eh Lucy?_ A little voice taunted in her head. _You've been trying to block this all along, but we both know that you love him._

_ I do love him! _She cried_. And nothing will ever change that!_

_ Yes, but why have you tried to block your feelings after all of this? _

She swallowed forcefully_. I... I couldn't stand it._ She said honestly. _Him... chasing after Lisanna. _

_And..? _

_ I didn't want myself hurt so I lied to him... _The voice seemed content with that and disappeared, leaving her to her own devices. With the confession she reviewed the last week. Why didn't I tell him before? She demanded to herself. What she did was selfish.

Lucy settled back down and she let out a sigh. She looked over at Natsu one last time. She was awfully tired for some reason, even after sleeping for the whole night. Probably with her wounds and Magic loss yesterday, but she didn't have much time to think about it because her eyes flickered unwillingly shut.

* * *

_ What would happen if he never wakes up? _

_ Lucy was travelling through the dark again, running away from the shadows that chased her. She had managed to get away, and was looking for the fire, the blazing inferno that kept the shadows away the first time. But it had already left. _

_ So close. She felt it, sensed its warmth, but she couldn't see it. If Lucy looked behind her, which she only dared doing once or twice, she saw the dark shadows getting closer and closer to her. The Celestial Spirit mage yelped when a speedy one managed to grab her ankle, and she tripped, but she wretched it away quickly and scrambled to her feet._

_ She was breathing heavily and cuts and bruises lined her arms and legs. But if Lucy stopped, the shadows would get her. She always had to stay one step ahead of them on her search. _

_ Lucy finally eyed something in the distance in the sea of black. It was pink. Seeing colour after what felt like millennia, she cried out and ran to it, not caring if it was an enemy or a friend, she just ran with the shadows on her heels. _

_ Panting, she slowed down to a jog and stopped at the thing in front of her. It was a boy, quite muscular, about her age, with pink hair and a scarf wrapped around his neck. For some reason her heart stopped in her chest when she didn't see him moving. _

_ She lifted her hands to her face; they came off wet. She was crying, but she didn't know why. Lucy knelt by the boy, the tears streaming down her cheeks, and her hand inched forward to caress his face. _

_ Her pupils dilated. He was warm, warm like the sun. It was her Fire, the one who kept the Shadows away._

_ She looked behind her; they had slowed down to a crawl, but they were overcoming their fear and inching closer. She wanted to run, but the Stellar Spirit mage couldn't leave him._

_ Lucy vowed to keep him safe. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed him close to her chest, shaking in fear but not releasing him. She bit her lip and closed her eyes when the Shadows were in grasping distance. _

_ Something led her to pull his face up, and she smashed her lips against his before it ended. She cried her goodbyes, hugging him close. Everything went white, but before that she felt his arms gathering her closer. _

* * *

Lucy woke up to the sound of someone, not her, stirring.

Her eyes opened groggily, blinking at the bright white that she saw. At first, she thought she was blind, and she recoiled, blinking furiously and seeing Happy. Something plopped next to her; it was the Fire Dragon Slayer's hand.

Her cheeks flushed as she realized; she had slumped over in her sleep and her upper body had been sleeping part-way on the bed next to Natsu. In return, somehow his hand had ended up caressing her face. "Hey!" The Exceed grinned; perfect blackmail for fish afterwards when this blew over. "How was your sleep?"

Lucy looked away from him. "Fine, just fine." The boy next to her stirred, and she bolted from her seat. She couldn't have imagined that, could she?

The rest of Team Natsu and Team Kura came in to check on the sleeping couple, seeing her bent over the boy. "What's happening?" Aiko asked, the whole group coming forward and surrounding the cot.

Her eyes searched over the Dragon Slayer's body again. _Please, please wake let that shudder be a sign of him waking up!_ She silently begged. Lucy vaguely heard Happy explain to the other's what was happening.

Everything was silent, and everyone held in their breaths. The seconds ticked by.

Natsu's onyx eyes opened groggily, and his rubbed his forehead. Lucy's eyes were as wide as saucers as he got up into an upright position, still obviously sleep-confused. She couldn't help herself anymore.

Lucy launched herself onto the bed, wrapping her arms around his neck. He omphed when her weight landed on his legs, and turned to look at the girl searching his eyes.

"Please, please tell me you're Natsu, Please, please, please!" she begged.

There was a slight hesitation, and then the Dragon Slayer's black eyes widened. "Oh my god it's you, Lucy!" Natsu took her in a deep hug, and tears started streaming down her face. Even smashed against his chest she could hear him apologizing rapidly under his breath. "I am so, so sorry for what I put you through, I don't deserve forgiveness, I feel so bad..."

She started bawling, despite herself. Wrapping her arms around Natsu's midsection she squeezed him tightly, enough to force the air out of his lungs, never wanting to let him go in case anything like that ever happened again.

She pounded his chest with the side of her fist with each word, "Y-You. Stupid. Idiot. Moron. I. Freakin. Hate you!" Natsu grinned at the girl below him as she burst into a fresh wave of tears, hugging him again. He wrapped his arms around her, placing one on the back of her head and the other on the small of her back.

Lucy took a sharp intake of breath. "D-don't you e-ever do something as stupid as approaching Damien and Eric on your own again!" She wailed, still crying. "You're such a stupid, over-confident, hot-headed, idiot!" Natsu didn't take offense to the words because he knew she didn't really mean them. She fisted his vest.

"Don't worry... I'm not." He kissed her forehead lightly. "I'm so sorry for making you do this without me. I'm so sorry for hurting you," he murmured. Lucy couldn't help herself anymore.

She lifted her head, and Natsu was there to meet her. Their lips pushed up against each other's desperately, all the pent-up emotions going into one kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer; she lifted her hand and tangled it into his pink tresses. They only pulled away when they needed air, staring at each other for a moment lovingly. The Fire Dragon Slayer wiped Lucy's tears away with the pad of his thumb, laughing at her, and the girl responded with a weak, shaky punch to his chest.

The rest of the group watched the scene quietly until Lucy's hiccups fell into sniffles. Once the two had separated, Happy had leaped between them. Natsu laughed and patted his head. "Hey buddy!"

Happy purred, pushing his head harder against his palm. Erza stepped forwards, looking at the three. "Good to have you back Natsu." He grinned, looking up at her.

Lucy swallowed, trying not to burst into tears again and start bawling and snotting into Natsu's vest and never letting him go. She almost quivered with the effort, beaming like an idiot with a shaky smile and red-rimmed eyes. Kura clapped a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at her. The Energy Dragon Slayer grinned at the Stellar Spirit mage and they high-fived.

"Now can you even stand up?" she asked innocently. Lucy nodded her head and stood up, but her legs were so shaky that she fell back onto the bed almost instantly. Natsu reached out for her and wrapped her close to his chest, making her yelp, squeezing her like a teddy bear.

"She'll stay right here with me." he told them. Everyone laughed, except for a furiously blushing Celestial Spirit mage trying to squirm out of his grip. Natsu grinned and pecked her cheek.

* * *

Later, sunset of that day, Kura, Ren, and Aiko were walking home.

The purple-haired woman looked over at her Mate, hold their hands fit perfectly together, how the low sunlight defined his features... she snapped herself out of it and asked, "Hey, Ren?"

He tilted his head, brown eyes searching her violet ones. "Yeah?"

"When should we tell Lucy the truth about... that?" she pointed with her free hand Ren's wrist, where their Mating band was. He was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt today, so the purple mark showed on his skin clearly.

"Well... Natsu will explain it to her eventually," he turned his gaze ahead of him. "Heck, I would bet 5,000J that he's gonna do it tonight."

"Well, I'm not taking you up on that, cause I don't doubt it."

"Me neither," Aiko piped up. Kura smiled, turning the bend and seeing their house. The Exceed and purple-haired swordswoman rented a room at Fairy Hills before, but once she'd found out it was a girls building only after they had found Ren, the three of them, Aiko, Ren, and herself, had gotten a little apartment for 90,000J on the West side of town.

Ren unlocked the door and they went inside, Aiko closing it behind them.

* * *

On the other side of town, Natsu and Lucy were walking home together. Wendy had said her okay on them going together, just as long as they stayed close in case Lucy had a dizzy spell or Natsu was acting confused. The Sky Dragon Slayer had informed Lucy that because of the memory lapse, the time from when the memories were stolen and when they were returned may be a little fuzzy for Natsu.

Lucy didn't mind. Explaining to him was a lot better than lying.

They had told Happy to stay with Wendy and Charle, and he eventually left for home with them, but he was reluctant to leave. Natsu was quiet for once, holding Lucy's hand tightly but not saying a word. The Celestial mage felt awkward, like someone was looking at her. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Lucy looked beside her; the Fire Dragon Slayer was staring at her. Once he noticed that she became aware, he would look away quickly.

Lucy caught his gazes every so often, he would turn his head with a faint tinge of red colouring his cheeks. _Was he... blushing?_ She asked herself. As far as she knew, he never blushed.

She caught his look again and stared at him. "Is something wrong?"

He let out a breath. "No." This spiked Lucy's curiosity even more. Natsu was blushing, and that _never_ happened. She finally just placed it under, weird-things-that-Natsu-will-do-after-his-memories -are-restored, and let it be.

Lucy and Natsu stopped at her door and Lucy shuffled through her key ring for the only normal key she had. She frowned and searched again. Her key was gone. She thought for a moment, then groaned. She had slipped Lisanna her key the last time they'd been here, when they had found Eric's feather. The Take-Over mage must still have had it.

Natsu looked over at her. "Where's the key?"

"Lisanna has it. I slipped it to her so she could open the door." She mumbled. Natsu's face burst into a grin.

"Well, I've always wanted to do this with you." Lucy frowned, but was scooped up by strong arms.

"KYAA!" she screamed. Natsu leaped up, deposited her on the roof, and leaned over to unlock the latch on the window. It swung open.

"Here. Just climb on through." He told her. Lucy scowled at him.

"What was that for?"

"Well, do you wanna walk _all_ the way back to the guild to see if there's a chance that Lisanna's there?" the Stellar Spirit mage narrowed her eyes at him but scooted forwards and slipped through the window and onto her bed, all aware of the five-meter drop if she slipped. Natsu snaked in a second after her, plopping next to her.

"So, what you wanna do?" she asked the pyromaniac, closing the window behind him. He was silent.

"Natsu?" he turned to face her, clasping her hands and holding them to his nose. Lucy blinked and her cheeks painted red. "N-Natsu?"

"I can't lose you again," he breathed. Lucy's eyes softened. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you, and I don't deserve..." he cut himself off, letting the sentence drift. He took in a deep breath.

"Lucy, I don't want anything like this to happen again. I love you and don't want to lose you. Ever."

"Dragon Slayers... have a different way of looking at relationships. They have Mates, similar to a boyfriend or girlfriend, but forever. I can't imagine a life without you Luce. You're my one, my only, my Mate. I was wondering if... Do you feel the same way?" he asked, looking up at her hopefully.

_Did she love him?_ The answer was obvious. "Yes, Natsu, yes, I love you and I'll never stop." She said, smiling.

He swallowed, continuing on. "Dragon Slay—"

"You can stop with the 'Dragon Slayers,'" she told him amusedly. "You sound like Juvia. Use I, me. It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

He seemed reassured by her words. His index finger unconsciously started doing circles on her wrist, making her shiver. "Drag... I want to Mark you. if you're okay with it. As my Mate. It would should that you're mine forever. It's a little circle on your wrist. It makes the bond between us stronger, it can tell me where you are, how you're feeling, it's also the same for me to you. My Mark is a powerful thing and we... just don't give it out to anyone." He told her.

"I'll do it," she said instantly. Natsu seemed a little surprised at her readiness but nodded. "Giving you my Mark... it lasts forever but... it hurts." He inspected her face. She seemed a little shocked.

"Kura never told me that!" she hissed. Now it was Natsu's turn to be surprised.

"Kura told you all this already?"

"Well, sorta. She gave me the basics, but she never said it hurt!" she turned back to him. "But, whatever. I'll yell at her tomorrow. I'm ready." She nodded at him.

"Are you sure? I don't want to force you into any—" Lucy pulled her hands out of his and flipped their positions. Now it was hers over his, and it stopped his from talking.

"Natsu," She stared at him, trying to pass on that she _really meant this_. "Love of my life. I know you'll never force me to do anything I don't want to. But I _want you_ to do this. I want to be there for you, and vice-versa, forever. I'm ready when you are." She smiled at him. After a moment of stretched silence, he took her wrist gently, looking at her in the eyes. Those glorious chocolate orbs that made him melt.

He loved her, that was for sure. She was his everything. Natsu couldn't imagine a life without her dazzling smile, soft golden hair, big doe eyes, heck, even her temper. He hated that he was going to cause her pain, but Natsu pressed the pad of his thumb into her wrist. At first, Lucy didn't feel anything, but then there was a burning sensation and she bit her lip trying not to cry out. Natsu winced, but there was nothing he could do but wipe her tears away. He knew he was supposed to _sense_ when the Mark was finished, but he wanted to pull away so badly.

The Dragon Slayer suddenly tensed up, so he lifted his thumb, seeing her pink skin and the intricate red circle there on top. It was a small Magic Circle, with an elegant Dragon Head and Key in the middle. They looked up at each other, Lucy with tears in her eyes, and Natsu leaned forward and kissed her. She whimpered.

"Do you want me to get you some ice?" he asked.

"No! Stay here..." She snivelled. It stung, but the idea of him leaving her, even just to the kitchen to get ice, was horrible for her. Her emotions suddenly felt like they were about to spill, and she didn't want him away from her. She'd rather get struck by a gazillion blast's from Damien than for Natsu to leave her side. The Dragon Slayer leaned back, pulling her with him gently, watching her wrist; he got them into the blankets and tucked them in snugly, pulling Lucy to his chest.

"You won't leave?" she asked in a tinny voice. She felt him grin against her neck, which he showered with light kisses.

"Nothing in the world would make me leave." He told her. She relaxed against him, arm hanging out awkwardly, but she didn't care. Natsu raised his heat so she could be warm, he felt her snuggle against him more until her breathing stretched out and she had fallen asleep.

It wasn't long that he followed her and he fell asleep too.

* * *

**I BELIEVE..! That this... is the second-last chappie... *sad awws in the background* we are nearly done... with the FireFlies... sad, isn't it? :...{**

**Well, to my reviewers last chapter...**

**Harlequin: hehe, thanks. :3 **

**HOURGLASZ: yeah, go Team Wendy! She saved the day. Whoo! I like Wendy, she's pretty cool. **

**WELL! It's late, and I gotta go to bed soon. I hope you guys are happy with this fluffy chapter while I snooze away! **

**Please leave reviews for when I wake up? I love waking up in the mornings to a good number of reviews. you 70ish reveiwers are all so nice! **

**Seriously guys, I love you all. Do you think I can make it to 1 hundred? I'll give the 100th person a special prize! [after I come back from my trip.]**


	21. Epilogue

**I DO NOT OWN THE AWESOME THAT IS FAIRY TAIL. **

**So, this is the end folks. The last chappy. I'm gonna miss my OCs and this story... *sighs* But, if you want this to continue, then go on my profile and vote on my poll!**

* * *

Kura woke up the next morning with the suns first rays of light dappling her face. She smiled faintly when she felt a familiar weight draped across her shoulders, Ren's arm holding her close, but she rolled over and lightly jostled him awake.

"Ren... Ren..! Time to wake up..!" the light sleeper opened his eyes sleepily to stare at her. He smirked and pecked her on the lips as a greeting. He got out of the bed first, [Kura always liked the window side,] and Kura followed after him. She woke up Aiko and made way for the bathroom to change.

Kura slipped into her regular violet dress and short black vest attire, strapping her ever-present sword to her hip, and walked back outside. Aiko was having troubles with her green dress with her small paws. The Energy Dragon Slayer laughed and helped her into it. The purple Exceed smiled, sprouting her wings and flying into the kitchen, where the swordswoman smelt bacon and eggs.

Ren turned around as the two came in. He was only wearing baggy pants, showing off his muscular chest, and honestly, [and embarrassingly,] Kura really didn't mind the view. Ren deposited the food on the table, laughing as Kura dived right in. After she'd realized she was Acnologia's child and a Dragon Slayer [what a shocker,] she'd noticed her appetite getting bigger. She didn't like it one bit, but once she saw food, she had issues pulling away.

After breakfast and Ren had finished getting dressed, they walked to the guild, planning on chatting for a bit and then getting a mission. Their rent was right around the corner, but they were sure to get a mission that would pay at least 100,000J for the three of them.

They walked through the doors. "Hey Kura, Ren, Aiko!" Mira called. "Would you like something to eat?"

"Naw, we're good. We have breakfast at our house." Mira smiled in response and turned back to drying the dishes.

Kura sat down on the bench. "You can choose the mission today guys." Aiko and Ren beamed at her and went off to the Request board. She rested her head on the table, still kinda tired from Magic loss the other day. Her eyes fluttered shut; she relied on her hearing if anything or anyone came too close.

That's when she heard angry footsteps, and suddenly, something hard whacked the back of her head. Kura jumped up, holding the area and scowling at her attacker. It _was_ a peaceful morning. "What was tha—"

Lucy looked down at her, eyes blazing. She held up her wrist, where there was a fiery red Mark. "You never told me it hurt!" she snapped. Kura lightened up, standing and grasping her wrist in surprise. Lucy winced, and the Dragon Slayer pulled away, remembering that the pain might have still been there. Whoops.

"Hehe, sorry. But congrats!" She looked straight at her. At that moment their Mates came in behind them, silently challenging the other. Lucy and Kura didn't know who leapt at whom first, but it was amusing watching those two tear at each other. No Magic or weapons were used, but a small dust cloud appeared around them, the occasional limb or snarling head appearing out of it. Their female counterparts chuckled.

"You guys are whipped!" Gray crowed, getting into the fight, and someone brought out the Magic. Kura edged into the fight and handed her sword, now turned scythe, to Ren, and the three males, all puffing out their chests, fought. It was friendly, nobody swung their weapon too hard and attacks were purposely weak, but it was fun to watch. Lucy saw Juvia ogling ray in the background.

"Hey, what about Team Natsu and Team Kura go on a mission," Kura suggested, holding up the job as she saw Wendy, Charle and Happy come through the doors.

Lucy smiled. "Sure! We'll split it half-half?"

Kura nodded. Lucy leaned in, eyeing someone, or more specifically two someones, behind the Dragon Slayer. "Hey, how much longer until Gajeel marks Levy, do you think?" they began walking out of the guild chatting together, and eventually their Mates noticed and followed after them. Gray was left behind, stark naked, then realized it and he stopped to find his clothes.

"Whipped!" he cried after them. "I tell you, you're both whipped!" the boys refused to answer him, stomping after the girls.

They had to leave by the train, much to Natsu's and Kura's dissatisfaction, but they boarded anyways and collapsed on the vehicle as soon as it started moving.

* * *

An hour later, it stopped, and the two Dragon Slayers leaped out of the train, trying to run as fast as they could off the thing. Their Mates, to their chagrin, took longer hauling their luggage off. As soon as their luggage was close enough to reach on non-moving ground, Natsu reached out and grabbed it to help Lucy.

Kura did the same, embarrassed that she left the luggage behind for Ren to pick up in her hurriedness. The swordsman didn't mind, knowing how sick she got on the train nowadays.

Their job was to eliminate a beast that had been terrorizing a small town called Elimore, and the townspeople were scared enough to put a 200,000J job up at some of the nearby guilds. It was a giant pig, they said, and were willing to pay anything to get rid of it, as the boar was eating all their crops and crushing their houses.

Aiko and Happy flew out as the train departed, flying next to their master's shoulders. "So, we stop this giant pig, collect the reward, and go home, Aye?" Somehow, Happy was eating a fish, although Lucy had no memory of giving him one.

"Yeah, let's go Happy!" Natsu cried, bursting into a run.

"Hey, Natsu, wait up!" Lucy yelled, laughing. Kura and Ren chased after them, shouting for them to slow down.

* * *

"Natsu!" Lucy's cheeks blew up frustratingly. "Why'd you have to destroy half the town?" she demanded. The pink-haired pyromaniac sat on the train, very sick, but Lucy didn't let him fall asleep for once and forced his attention onto her.

"Uh..." his face looked a little green as he looked up at her.

She tapped him on the nose. "Come on Natsu! You know better!" they had to give all of their remaining reward money to Team Kura because it was their fault in the first place, [Surprisingly, as Kura was the one with the _Destruction Magic_,] meaning they came back with absolutely no money. With Damien and Lucy chasing after him, rent was just around the corner too.

Natsu's cheeks blew up, and he looked sick enough to barf. Lucy sighed. "Well, I guess this is your punishment, going on two train rides for nothing." She said. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay mad at him for long.

Ren opened the door, letting a similarly-shaded green Kura stumble in. Aiko had to giggle, and Ren cracked a smile as the Dragon Slayer sat down across from Natsu. "I HATE being a Dragon Slayer sometimes!" she garbled. Ren sat down next to her, rubbing her back, and the girl leaned on his shoulder tiredly.

Kura quickly bolted upright, and ran out of the benches, eyes wide. Ren laughed and followed her, already knowing where she was going. The bathrooms. Aiko stayed with them.

"And least Natsu is kinda used to it," the female Exceed commented. "He can hold in his guts more than five minutes." Natsu growled, but his head fell back panting.

"Lu-cyyyyy... can you rub my back?"

The Celestial Spirit mage shook her head. "No. This is your punishment for destroying the town. No Trioa and no back-rubs." He groaned.

* * *

As soon as they got back, almost at sunset, the teams split their ways and walked back to their homes. Natsu looked quite annoyed at Lucy, and she laughed, and she was so endearingly cute he had no choice but to laugh too.

"So," Lucy said, walking into her house and seeing Natsu perched on the windowsill, waiting for her as Happy flew behind his shoulder. "What do you want to do?"

Natsu fell forward, allowing Happy to fly in and he crashed onto the bed. "I'm hungry!" he moaned. Lucy chuckled and went to make them sandwiches, because it was something simple and she didn't have enough food left to make anything else. As she was working, the fiery red Mark caught her eye and she looked at it appreciatingly, smiling.

"Here you go," Lucy said, handing him sandwich, noticing the blue Exceed wasn't there to take his own food. "Hey, where's Happy?" She asked.

"He went to get some fish," The Fire Dragon Slayer mumbled, mouth full of food. Natsu ate one half at a time, swallowing them in one gulp. Lucy ate hers slower.

Lucy's eyelids started to get heavy. She yawned, and Natsu clued in on this. "Tired?" he teased. Lucy nodded sleepily. Maybe summoning Aquarius on that mission wasn't such a great idea after all. Well, at least she only destroyed two houses, unlike Natsu's eleven.

Lucy was wrapped in Natsu's embrace, and she didn't resist as he pulled them backwards. Her head hit the pillow as her eyes half-shut. The Fire Dragon Slayer rolled her over so that she was facing him, seeing her ready to fall asleep at any moment now.

Lucy raised a limp hand and traced his jaw, eventually moving down to his lips. He kissed her fingertips  
softly as they passed by. Reluctantly, the Stellar Spirit mage pulled away, but not until Natsu pulled her closer. She yelped as she was pressed against his chest, but relaxed against it. She snuggled closer to his warmth, and felt her head being tugged upwards.

Lucy raised her lips to his, and the Celestial Spirit mage felt filled with pride that it was Natsu kissing her. His lips moved against hers, he tasted like cinnamon and smoke. Hot and spicy and they sure in hell were _warm_. She wouldn't have it any other way. Lucy felt Natsu smirk, and she pulled away. She could have kissed him for years and not get bored or stop loving him, but unfortunately, the need for air prevented that.

"I love you Luce." He told the rapidly falling-asleep girl. Her eyelids were heavy and the faint buzz in her ears told her she was slipping on her hold of wakefulness.

She smiled sleepily and yawned, "I love you too Natsu," cuddling closer to him.

* * *

Happy flew in an hour later, ready to scream to Natsu and Lucy the deal he'd bargained with the tired fish merchant just so he would be left alone. The man had given him a large fish, currently held in his green sack, and a smaller one that only cost him 200J. _200J!_

The cat flew in the window, barely noticing that the lights were all off. "Guys! Guess—" he stopped when he realized they were asleep, face stretching into a catty grin. They were so cute, cuddled in the blankets together! Wait till he told Mira.

"They liiiiiike each other..!" he whispered, curling up into a ball by their feet and slowly snoozing away.

* * *

**Haha, please don't critizize my crappy kissing scenes. I'm only thirteen, and haven't had my first kiss yet, sadly, so I only have other book experience and the Internet. "Please don't hate me!" *runs, screaming from a mob of angry readers* **

**Well, this is, sadly, the last chappy... say goodbye... *starts bawling* I'm gonna miss all my OCs and plot... but, I guess it'll always be there for me to read, right? And besides, with the help of you readers voting on my poll, [Hint hint nudge nudge,] I MAY make these a trilogy. **

**I'm going on a trip in two days, leaving me plenty of time to write this and another chapter for Chances, so, well, wish me a happy trip! :3**

**To my awesome reviewer last chappy, Dyeni!= hehe, sorry. I may ****_or may not_**** have erased chapter 19, like, TWO seconds after I posted it. WHOOPS! "don't hate me... AHHH!" *Runs away from and angry Dyeni waving a stick around*. Go Wendy! I was aiming for a "Omg, what happened," and then relief, and Wendy's ability was helpful in doing so. YES, I'm still stuck on that. How did his awesome arms shrink so much! Unfortunately, I won't get internet on my trip, meaning I CAN'T READ THE NEW CHAPTER ON FRIDAY! ARG! pity me...**

**Well, in all, thank you KanaeHitomi, Dyeni, LifeIsWaiting, GoldenRoseTanya, ahaurats-FT, Nalu lover, Dzhunnrah, Harem08, LucyAshley, Rafflesia, guest, cArDcApToRsAkUra, Guest, Lisanna is love, Guest, Jenny, cardcaptorsakura, Princess, The Guest, Ryuu, HiroMashima p, Panda, Ihearteverything33, FairyTailADDICT, Nee san, HiroMashima, FT 4ever, PikaSkyeFan [still love your nickname! :D ], HiroMashima, Guest, Fairytail4ever, Harlequin, and HOURGLASZ for taking your time to review, plus, all those who favourite and followed this story! **

**I LOVE YOU ALL! **

**Haha, do you think I can get at least eighty, possibly ninety reviews when I come back from my trip? PWETTY PLEASE, LEAVE A REVIEW OF HOW I DID, EVEN IF IT'S TO SAY THIS STORY SUCKS. I WANT TO KNOW HOW I DID, SO IF YOU HAVE TIME, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW IN THAT LITTLE BOX DOWN THERE!**

**No, not that one... the other-... NOT THAT ONE! [lol, just leave a review please?] **

**Pikaskye, out! **


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